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BABEL   AND    BIBLE 


TWO  LECTURES  ON 


THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  ASSYRIOLOGICAL 
RESEARCH  FOR  RELIGION 


EMBODYING  THE  MOST  IMPORTANT  CRITICISMS 
AND  THE  AUTHOR'S  REPLIES 


^ 


DR.   FRIEDRICH  DELITZSCH 

PROFESSOR  OF  ASSYRIOLOGY  IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  BERLIN 


TRANSLATED    FROM  THE  GERMAN  BY 

THOMAS  J.  McCORMACK  AND  W.  H.  CARRUTH 


PROFUSELY  ILLUSTRATED 


CHICAGO 

THE  OPEN  COURT  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
1903 


Copyright  1903  by 

The  Open  Court  Publishing  Co. 

Chicago. 

"First   t,ecture"  Copyrighted  1902  under 
the  title  "Babel  aud  Bible." 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


FIRST  LECTURE i 

Excavations  and  the  Bible,  p.  i.— A  New  Epoch,  p.  2.— The  Back- 
ground of  the  Old  Testament,  p.  3.— The  Home  of  Abraham;  p.  4  — 
Cuneiform  Literature,  p.  5.— Illustrations  of  Bible  Reports,  p.  6  ff.— 
Hezekiah  and  Sennacherib,  pp.  6-8.— Seals,  p.  9  — Sargon  I.,  pp.  9- 
10.— Racial  types,  pp.  lo-ii.  — Assyrian  Troops,  pp  11-13.— Assyrian 
Soldiers  and  Details  of  Armament,  pp.  15-18.— The  Royal  Household, 
pp.  18-20.— Battling  with  the  Lion,  pp.  20-22.— The  Harem,  pp.  23- 
24.— A  Consort  of  Sardanapalus,  pp.  23-25.— Technical  Knowledge 
and  Art,  pp.  25-28. — Affinity  Between  Babylonian  and  Hebrew,  p 
29. — Aaron's  Blessing,  pp.  29-30.  — A  Civilisation  Comparable  with 
Our  Own,  p.  30. — Hammurabi's  Laws,  pp.  30-31.— Commerce  and 
Science,  p.  33.— The  Splendors  of  Babylon,  pp.  33-34-  — Clay  Tablets, 
35-37. ^Canaan  a  Babylonian  Domain,  p.  37. — The  Sabbath  Day,  pp. 
37-38. —A  Tablet  from  El-Amarna,  p.  38.— The  Deluge,  p.  38  ff.— 
Xisuthros,  the  Babylonian  Noah,  p.  39  ff.— The  Gilgamesh  Epic,  p. 
41  ff.— Marduk  and  Yahveh,  p.  43  ff  — Tiamat  and  Tehom,  p.  45.— 
Stress  Laid  on  Humane  Conduct,  p.  47.— The  Serpent  and  the  Fall 
of  Man,  pp.  47-48.— The  Underworld,  pp.  49-50.— Job  and  the  New 
Testament  on  Hell  and  Paradise,  p.  50.— The  Moslem  Paradise,  pp. 
50-52. — Seraphim  and  Guardian  Angels,  pp.  53-55.— Demons  and 
Devils,  pp.  55-58. — Monotheism,  p.  59. — Abraham's  Conversion,  Ac- 
cording to  the  Koran,  p.  60. — The  Word  El,  pp.  60-61. — The  Name 
Yahveh,  on  a  Clay  Tablet  of  Hammurabi's  Time,  pp.  61-62.— The 
Sun-God  of  Sippar,  pp.  62-63 —Ezekiel's  Vision  Illustrated,  pp.  64- 
65. — Babylonian  Polytheism  and  Israelitic  Particularism,  pp.  65-66. 

SECOND  LECTURE 6? 

Isaiah's  Battle  Song,  p.  6g. — Shrinking  from  Yahveh,  p.  70. — Babel 
as  Interpreter  of  the  Bible,  p.  71. — Kutha  and  Chalach,  the  Home  of 
the  Exiled  Israelites,  pp.  72-73. — The  Black  Obelisk  of  Shalmaneser 
II.,  pp.  74-78.— The  Re'em,  or  Wild  Ox,  pp.  79-83.— The  Hill  of 
Babil,  pp.  81-83. — The  Lion  of  Babylon,  p.  84. — The  Dragon  of  Ba- 
bel, p.  85. — Old  Testament  Scriptures  Translated  by  Assyriology,  p. 
86. — The  Insanity  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  p.  87. — Book  of  Jonah,  p.  88. 
— Even  the  Modern  Orient  an  Interpreter  of  the  Bible,  pp.  89-90. — 
The  Magic  Power  of  Spittle,  p.  go. — Smoke  and  Fire,  pp.  90-91.— 


IV  BABLE  AND  BIBLE. 

PAGE 

Gula,  the  Awakener  of  the  Dead,  p.  gr. — Revelation  and  the  Old 
Testament,  p.  92  S. — The  Second  Commandment  Suppressed,  p.  93 
ff.  and  also  p.  102. — The  Two  Tablets  Engraved  by  God's  Own  Finger, 
p.  94. — Miracles  of  the  Two  Tablets  in  Prehistoric  Reports,  pp.  95- 
96. — The  So-called  Mosaic  Law  and  the  Code  of  Hammurabi,  pp.  96- 
100. — The  Covenant  of  Sinai,  p.  100. — The  Institution  of  Sabbath,  p. 
101. — The  First  Commandment  and  Monotheism,  p.  102. — God  in 
Names,  p.  102  ff  —Babylonian  Polytheism,  gross  but  poetical,  pp. 
103-104  — The  Homeric  Pantheon,  p.  104. — Anthropomorphism  of 
Hebrew  Prophets,  p.  104. — Yahveh  with  Horns,  p.  104. — The  Ancient 
of  Days,  p.  105. — The  Ethical  Level  of  Israel  and  Babylon,  p.  106. — 
The  Position  of  Woman  in  Israel,  p.  108. — The  Goddess  of  Birth  and 
Eve,  p.  log  ff. — The  Narrowness  of  Hebrew  and  Moslem  Monotheism, 
pp.  110-112. — The  Extermination  of  Gentiles,  p.  111-112. — God  no 
Respecter  of  Persons,  pp.  112-113. — Ethical  Monotheism,  p.  113. — 
Outlook  Upon  the  Future  Development  of  Religion,  p.  114. 

THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  BABEL  AND  BIBLE 115 

Literature  ON  Babel  AND  Bible 117 

Opinion.s  ON  "  Babel  AND  Bible" 120 

Emperor  William  on  "Babel  and  Bible,"  pp.  120-124. — Professor 
Harnack  on  the  Emperor's  Attitude  Toward  "  Babel  and  Bible,"  pp. 
125-130. — M  Halevy's  Opinion,  pp.  130-131.— Cornill  on  "Babel  and 
Bible,"  pp.  132-136. — A  Roman  Catholic  Verdict,  pp.  136-137. — 
Alfred  Jeremias  on  Delitzsch,  pp.  137-139. — Higher  Criticism  and  the 
Emperor,  op.  i3g-i44. 

Reply  to  Critics  of  the  First  Lecture 145 

The  Ethical  Aspect,  pp.  145-146. — The  Primordial  Chaos,  p.  146. — 
Traces  of  Polytheism,  p.  146. — Babylonian  Monotheism,  pp.  146-147. 
— The  Name  "El,"  pp.  148-150. — The  Name  "Yahveh,"  pp.  150- 
151. — The  Name  "Yahum-ilu,"  pp.  152-153. — Processions  of  the 
Gods,  pp.  153. — Aaron's  Blessing,  pp.  153-155. — The  Sabbath,  pp. 
155-156. — The  Fall,  pp.  157-158. — Life  After  Death,  pp.  158  i5g. — 
Tiamat,  pp.  i5g-i6i. — Angels,  pp.  161-162 — Babylonian  Supersti- 
tions in  Sweden,  p.  162. — Canaanites,  pp.  162-163. — 

Reply  to  Critics  of  the  Second  Lecture 164 

Orthodoxy  in  Synagogue  and  Church,  pp.  164  167. — Conclusion,  p. 
167. 


FIRST  LECTURE 


FIRST  LECTURE. 

TO  what  end  this  toil  and  trouble  in  distant,  inhospit- 
able, and  danger-ridden  lands?  Why  all  this  ex- 
pense in  ransacking  to  their  utmost  depths  the  rubbish 
heaps  of  forgotten  centuries,  where  we  know  neither 
treasures  of  gold  nor  of  silver  exist?  Why  this  zealous 
emulation  on  the  part  of  the  nations  to  secure  the  great- 
est possible  number  of  mounds  for  excavation?  And 
whence,  too,  that  constantly  increasing  interest,  that 
burning  enthusiasm,  born  of  generous  sacrifice,  now  be- 
ing bestowed  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  on  the  excava- 
tions of  Babylonia  and  Assyria? 

One  answer  echoes  to  all  these  questions, — one  an- 
swer, which,  if  not  absolutely  adequate,  is  yet  largely  the 
reason  and  consummation  of  it  all :  the  Bible.  A  magic 
halo,  woven  in  earliest  youth,  encircles  the  names  of 
Nineveh  and  Babylon,  an  irresistible  fascination  abides 
for  us  all  in  the  stories  of  Belshazzar  and  the  Wise  Men 
of  the  East.  The  long-lasting  d^masties  here  awakened 
to  new  life,  however  potent  for  history  and  civilisation 
they  may  have  been,  would  not  have  aroused  a  tithe  of 
their  present  interest,  did  they  not  number  among  them 
the  names  of  Amraphel,  Sennacherib,  and  Nebuchadnez- 
zar, with  whom  we  have  been  familiar  from  childhood. 


2  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

And  with  the  graven  memories  of  youth  is  associated 
the  deeper  longing  of  maturity, — the  longing,  so  charac- 
teristic of  our  age, — to  possess  a  philosophy  of  the  world 
and  of  life  that  will  satisfy  both  the  heart  and  the  head. 
And  this  again  leads  us  directly  to  the  Bible,  and  notably 
to  the  Old  Testament,  with  which  historically  our  mod- 
ern views  are  indissolubly  connected. 

The  minute,  exhaustive  scrutiny  to  which  untold 
numbers  of  Christian  scholars  in  Germany,  England,  and 
America — the  three  Bible-lands,  as  we  may  justly  call 
them — are  submitting  the  Old  Testament,  that  little 
library  of  books  of  most  varied  hue,  is  nothing  less  than 
astounding. 

Of  these  silent  intellectual  labors  the  world  has  as 
yet  taken  but  little  notice.  Yet  this  much  is  certain, 
that  when  the  sum-total  and  ultimate  upshot  of  the  new 
knowledge  shall  have  burst  the  barriers  of  the  scholar's 
study  and  entered  the  broad  path  of  life, — shall  have 
entered  our  churches,  schools,  and  homes, — the  life  of 
humanity  will  be  more  profoundly  stirred  and  be  made 
the  recipient  of  more  significant  and  enduring  progress 
than  it  has  by  all  the  discoveries  of  modern  physical  and 
natural  science  put  together.  So  far,  at  any  rate,  the 
conviction  has  steadily  and  universally  established  itself 
that  the  results  of  the  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  excava- 
tions are  destined  to  inaugurate  anew  epoch,  not  onl}-  in 
our  intellectual  life,  but  especially  in  the  criticism  and 
comprehension  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  that  from  now 
till  all  futurity  the  names  of  Babel  and  Bible  will  remain 
inseparably  linked  together. 

How  times  have  changed !     There   was   David   and 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  3 

there  was  Solomon,  1000  years  before  Christ ;  and  Moses, 
1400  3'ears  ;  and  Abraham  eight  centuries  prior.  And  of 
all  these  men  we  had  the  minutest  information  !  It  was 
so  unique,  so  supernatural,  that  one  credulously  accepted 
along  with  it  stories  concerning  the  origin  of  the  world 
and  mankind.  The  very  greatest  minds  stood,  and  some 
of  them  still  stand  to-day,  under  the  puissant  thrall  of 
the  mystery  encompassing  the  First  Book  of  Moses.  But 
now  that  the  pyramids  have  opened  their  depths  and  the 
Ass3^rian  palaces  their  portals,  the  people  of  Israel,  with 
its  literature,  appears  as  the  3-oungest  member  onl^^  of  a 
venerable  and  hoarj^  group  of  nations. 

The  Old  Testament  formed  a  world  by  itself  till  far 
into  the  last  century.  It  spoke  of  times  to  whose  latest 
limits  the  age  of  classical  antiquity  barely  reached,  and 
of  nations  that  have  met  cither  with  none  or  with  the 
most  cursory  allusion  from  the  Greeks  and  the  Romans. 
The  Bible  was  the  sole  source  of  our  knowledge  of  the 
histor^^  of  Hither  Asia  prior  to  550  B.  C,  and  since  its 
vision  extended  over  all  that  immense  quadrangle  lying 
between  the  Alediterranean  Sea  and  the  Persian  Gulf  and 
stretching  from  Mount  Ararat  to  Ethiopia,  it  naturally 
teemed  with  enigmas  that  might  otherwise  have  tarried 
till  eternit}^  for  their  solution.  But  now  the  walls  that 
formed  the  impenetrable  background  to  the  scenes  of  the 
Old  Testament  have  suddenl^^  fallen,  and  a  keen  invigo- 
rating air  and  a  flood  of  light  from  the  Orient  pervades 
and  irradiates  the  hoar3'book, — animating  and  illuminat- 
ing it  the  more  as  Hebrew  antiquit3^  is  linked  together 
from  beginning  to  end  with  Babylonia  and  Ass3-ria. 

The    American    excavations   at   Nippur   brought    to 


4  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

light  the  business  records  of  a  great  wholesale  house, 
Murashu  &  Sons,  operating  in  that  city  in  the  reign  of 
Artaxerxes  (450  B.  C).  We  read  in  these  records  the 
names  of  many  Jewish  exiles  that  had  remained  in  Babel, 
as  Nathaniel,  Haggai,  and  Benjamin,  and  we  read  also 
of  a  canal  Kabar  in  connection  with  the  city  of  Nippur, 
which  is  the  original  of  the  canal  of  Kebar  rendered  fa- 
mous by  Hzekiel's  vision  and  situated  ''in  the  land  of 
the  Chaldaeans"  (Ezekiel  i.  3).  This  "grand  canal," 
for  such  the  name  means,  may  possibly  exist  to  this  very 
day. 


Fig.    I.        UR  OF  THE  ChALDEES,    THE  HOME  OF   ABRAHAM  AND  THE 

Forefathers  of  Israel. 
(Ruins  of  el-Muqayyer,  pronounced  Mukayyer,  English  Mugheir.) 

Since  the  Babylonian  bricks  usually  bear  a  stamp 
containing  along  with  other  marks  the  name  of  the  city 
in  which  the  building  of  which  it  formed  a  part  was 
erected,  it  was  made  possible  for  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson  as 
early  as  the  year  1849  to  rediscover  the  much-sought-for 
city  of  Ui'  of  the  Chaldces^  the  home  of  Abraham  and  the 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  5 

ancestors  of  the  tribes  of  Israel  (Genesis  xi.  31  and  xv.  7) . 
The  discovery  was  made  in  the  gigantic  mound  of  ruins 
of  Mugheir  on  the  right  bank  of  the  lower  Buphrates 
(see  Fig.  1) ,  which  is  now  the  storm-center  of  warring 
Arab  tribes.  The  certainty  of  the  discovery  has  been 
more  and  more  established. 

The  data  of  the  cuneiform  literature  shed  light  also 
on  geographical  matters :   formerly  the  site  of  the  city  of 


Fiy.  2.     HiTTiTE    Ideographic 
Writing  from  Carchemish.' 


Fig.  3.   King  Hammurabi.  The  King 
Amraphel  of  the  Bible. 


Carchemish,  where  Nebuchadnezzar  in  605  B.C.  won  his 
great  battle  from  Pharaoh-necho  (Jeremiah  xlvi.  2)  was 
sought  for  at  random  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates,  but 
in  March,  1876,  the  English  Assyriologist  George  Smith, 
starting  from  Aleppo  and  following  the  river  downward 
from  Biredjik,  rode  directly  to  the  spot  where   from  the 

'  Confirming  the  discovery  of  the  site  of  Carchemish,  where  Nebuchednezzar 
defeated  Necho  in  605  B.  C. 


6  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

tenor  of  the  cuneiform  inscriptions  the  city  of  the  Hittite 
king's  must  have  lain,  and  at  once  and  unhesitatingly 
identified  the  vast  ruins  of  Dsherabis  there  situate,  with 
their  walls  and  palace-mounds,  more  extensive  than  Nin- 
eveh itself,  with  the  ancient  city  of  Carchemish, — a  con- 
clusion that  was  immediatel3^  afterward  confirmed  by  the 
inscriptions  in  the  unique  ideographic  Hittite  script  that 
were  strewn  over  the  entire  site  of  the  ruins  (Fig.  2) . 

And  like  many  names  of  places,  so  also  many  of  the 
personalities  named  in  the  Bible,  have  received  new  light 
and  life.  The  book  of  the  prophet  Isaiah  (xx.  1)  men- 
tions an  Assyrian  king  by  the  name  of  Sargon,  who 
sent  his  marshal  against  Ashdod ;  and  when  in  1843  the 
French  consul  Kmile  Botta  began  his  excavations  on  the 
mound  of  ruins  situated  not  far  from  Mosul,  and  thus  in- 
augurated archaeological  research  on  Mesopotamian  soil, 
the  first  Assyrian  palace  unearthed  was  the  palace  of  this 
same  Sargon,  the  conqueror  of  Samaria.  Na3^,  on  one  of 
the  superb  alabaster  reliefs  with  which  the  walls  of  the 
palace  chambers  were  adorned,  the  very  person  of  this 
mighty  warrior  conversing  with  his  marshal  appears  be- 
fore our  e3^es  (Fig.  4) . 

The  Book  of  Kings  (2  Kings  xviii.  14)  narrates  that 
King  Sennacherib  received  tribute  from  King  Hezekiah 
in  the  city  of  Lachish  in  southern  Palestine.  Now,  a  re- 
lief from  Sargon 's  palace  in  Nineveh  shows  the  great  As- 
S3-rian  king  enthroned  before  his  tent  in  sight  of  a  con- 
quered city,  and  the  accompanying  inscription  reads: 
"Sennacherib,  the  king  of  the  universe,  king  of  Ashur, 
seated  himself  upon  his  throne  and  inspected  the  booty  of 
Lachish." 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


7 


And  again,  Sennaclierib's  Babylonian  rival  Mero- 
dacli-Baladan,  who  according  to  the  Bible  (2  Kings  xx. 
12)  sent  letters  and  a  present  to  King  Hezekiah,  is  shown 
us  in  his  own  likeness  by  a  magnificent  diorite  relief  now 


Fig.  4.  King  Sargon  II.  and  His  Marshal. 

in  Berlin,  where  before  the  king  is  the  lord-mayor  of  the 
city  of  Babylon,  to  whom  the  sovereign  in  his  gracious- 
ness  has  seen  fit  to  grant  large  tracts  of  land.     Even  the 


Fig.  5       Assyrian  King  in  State  Custume. 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


contemporary  of  Abraham,  Amrapliel,  the  great  king 
Hammurabi,  is  now  represented  by  a  likeness  (Fig.  3) . 
Thus,  all  the  men  that  made  the  history  of  the  world  for 
3000  long  years,  rise  to  life  again,  and  the  most  costly 


Fig.  6.     Seal  of  King  Darius. 

relics  have  been  bequeathed  to  us  by  them.  Here  is  the 
seal  of  King  Darius,  the  son  of  Hystaspes  (Fig.  6) ,  where 
the  king  is  represented  as  hunting  the  lion  under  the 
sublime  protection  of  Ahura  Mazda,  and  at  the  side  is  the 
trilingual  inscription :   "I  am  Darius,  the  great  king," — 


Fig.  7.     Seal  of  Sargon  I.     (Third  or  fourth  millennium  B.  C.) 

a  genuine  treasure  of  the  British  Museum.  Here  is  the 
state  seal  of  one  of  the  oldest  known  Babylonian  rulers, 
Shargani-shar-ali,  or  Sargon  I.,  who  flourished  in  the 
third,  or  possibly  the  fourth,  millennium  before  Christ 


10 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


(Fig.  7) .  This  king,  as  the  legend  runs,  knew  not  his 
own  father,  the  latter  having  met  his  death  prior  to  the 
birth  of  his  son ;   and  since  the  father's  brother  cared  not 


Elamite 
Babylonian  merchant 


Jew  of  Lachish 


Israelite 
Arab  horseman 


Fie.  8.     Racial  Types. 


for  the  widowed  mother,  great  affliction  attended  the  son's 
entrance   into   this   world;   we   read:    "In  Azupiran,   on 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  11 

the  banks  of  the  Euphrates,  she  bore  me  in  concealment ; 
she  placed  nie  in  a  box  of  reeds,  sealed  my  door  with 
pitch,  and  cast  me  upon  the  river,  which  conve^^ed  me  on 
its  waves  to  Akki,  the  water-carrier.  He  took  me  up  in 
the  kindness  of  his  heart,  reared  me  as  his  own  child, 
made  me  his  gardener.  Then  Ishtar,  the  daughter  of  the 
King  of  Heaven,  showed  fondness  for  me  and  made  me 
king  over  men." 

And  not  only  kings  and  generals,  but  also  entu'e  na- 
tions^ have  been  brought  to  life  again  by  these  discov- 
eries. If  we  compare  the  various  types  of  nationality 
engraved  on  the  monuments  of  Assyrian  art,  and,  taking 
for  example  two  types  that  we  know,  here  scrutinise  the 
picture  of  a  Jew  of  Lachish  (Fig.  8) ,  and  here  the  repre- 
sentation of  an  Israelite  of  the  time  of  Jehu,  we  are  not 
likely  to  be  wrong  in  our  conclusion  that  also  the  other 
national  types,  for  example  the  Elamite  chieftain,  the 
Arab  horseman,  and  the  Babylonian  merchant,  have  been 
depicted  and  reproduced  with  the  same  fidelity  and  exact- 
ness. ParticularU'  the  Assyrians,  who  sixty  years  ago 
were  supposed  to  have  perished  with  all  their  history  and 
civilisation  in  the  great  river  of  tinre,  have  been  made 
known  to  us  in  the  minutest  details  by  excavations  in 
Nineveh,  and  many  passages  in  the  prophetic  books  re- 
ceive gorgeous  illustration  from  our  discoveries.  Thus, 
Isaiah  describes  in  the  following  eloquent  language  the 
Assyrian  troops : 

"Behold,  they  shall  come  with  speed  swiftly:  None  shall  be 
weary  nor  stumble  among  them;  none  shall  slumber  nor  sleep; 
neither  shall  the  girdle  of  their  loins  be  loosed,  nor  the  latchet  of 
their  shoes  be  broken  :  Whose  arrows  are  sharp,  and  all  their  bows 


12 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


Fig.  9.     Bronze  Gates  of  the  Palace  of  Shalmaneser  II      (At  Balawat.) 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


13 


bent,  their  horses'  lioofs  shall  be  counted  like  flint,  and  their  wheels 
like  a  whirlwind  :  Their  roaring  shall  be  like  a  lion,  yea,  they  shall 


Fig.  lo.     Assyrians  B/vtterinc.  a  Fortress. 


Fig.  II.     Detail-Group  on  Bronze  Gate. 
Above  war-chariots  and  below  captives  led  before  the  king. 

roar,  and   lay  hold   of   the   prey,  and   shall   carry  it   away  safe,  and 
none  shall  deliver  it." — (  Isaiah,  v.  27-29.) 


14 


BABEL  AND  BIBLH. 


Fig.  12.     Procession  of  Female  Captives.     (Detail-group  on  bronze  gate.) 


^Jx 


.   \: 


^   '    ^ 


.^ 


k^k\^\' 


r?y^<1% 


IV 


Fig.  13.     Assyrian  Bowmen  and  Spearmen  Attacking  a  Hostile  Fortress. 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


15 


We  can  now  see  these  same  Assyrian  soldiers  arising 
from  their  camp  in  the  early  morn  and  dashing  their  bat- 
tering-rams against  the  enemy's  fortress  (Fig.  10)  ;   and 


>^-    '~~ 

■..-•-— ^l_-.V^  ^ 

Fig.  13a.      Grazing  Antelopes. 
(Idyllic  scene  picturing  the  intense  realism  of  Assj'rian  art. 


<M>(M'^]W^sm^Um»^)%'^^^                     ' 

rew^ 

70{fflwrw^-  v^AWi^srrwAYf^ 

\\/Vxxk 

0wvwPlJJW^ 

\J  /VVx/' 

Fig.  14.    Assyrian  Slingers. 

on  Other  representations  (Figs.  11  and  12)  iwA.y  be  seen 
the  unfortunate  prisoners  conducted  the  \va3^  from  which 


16 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


there  is  no  home-coming.  We  see  also  (Fig.  13)  the 
Assyrian  bowmen  and  spearmen  casting  their  weapons 
toward  the  hostile  fortress,  and  in  another  case  Assyrian 
warriors  storming  an  elevation  defended  by  hostile  arch- 
ers.    The}'  pull  themselves  upward  by  the  branches  of 


Fig.  15.     Head  of  Winged  Bull. 

Showing  details  of  Assyrian  mode  of  dressing  the  beard,  as  worn 

by  the  king  and  the  officers  of  the  army. 

the  trees,  or  clamber  to  the  summit  with  the  help  of 
staffs ;  whilst  others  drag  in  triumph  the  severed  heads 
of  their  enemies  into  the  valley. 

The  military  system  of  this  first  great  warrior-state 
of  the  world  is  shown  forth  to  us  in  a  vast  number  of  sim- 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


17 


Fig    i6.     The  King's  Chariot  in  a  Parade. 


Fig.  17.     Officers  of  Ashurbanipal  (Sardanapalus)  Entering  Court 


18 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


ilar  representations  on  the  bronze  doors  of  Shahnaneser 
II.  (Fig.  9)  and  on  the  alabaster  reliefs  of  the  palaces  of 
Sargon  and  Sennacherib,  with  all  details  of  armament 
and  eqnipment  and  in  all  phases  of  development.  (See, 
for  example,  Fig.  14.) 


Fig.  i8.     Pages  Carrying  the  Royal  Chariot. 

Again  wc  have  the  portrait  of  an  Assyrian  officer  of 
Sargon 's  general  staff,  the  style  of  whose  beard  surpasses 
in  artistic  cut  aii3'thing  that  has  been  attempted  by  mod- 
ern officers.  (See,  for  example.  Fig.  15.)  Here  we  see 
the  officers  of  the  ro^^al  household  making  their  cere- 
monial entry  (Fig.  17) ,  or  pages  carr3-ing  the  ro3-al  char- 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


19 


iot  (Fig.  18) ,  or  the  royal  throne  (Fig.  19) .  Many  beau- 
tiful reliefs  show  us  King  Sardanapalus  following  the 
chase,  especially  in  his  favorite  sport  of  hunting  lions,  of 
which  a  goodly  number  of  magnificent  specimens  were 


Fig.  19.      Pages  Carrying  the  Royal  Throne. 

constantly  kept  at  hand  in  parks  specially  reserved  for 
this  purpose.      (Figs.  20-25.) 

When  King  Saul  refused  to  suffer  young  David  to 
go  forth  to  do  battle  with  the  giant  Goliath,  David  re- 


20 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


minded  him  that  he  had  been  the  shepherd  of  his  father's 
flocks  and  that  when  a  lion  or  a  bear  had  come  and  taken 
a  lamb  from  his  flock,  he  had  gone  out  after  the  beast  and 


i^^'-^m 

iii:^ 

mamtsmi^ggsfaiam 

«>;.Mi^^HI 

■-^*!^:-^..- ■.^i.c^L^^'!;^^"^AS;5Ui.^                            i 

Fig.  20.    King  Sardanapalus  on  Horseback. 

had  smitten  it  and  wrested  from  it  its  prey,  and  that  if 
after  that  it  had  risen  against  him  he  had  caught  the  lion 


Fig.  21.     Sardanapalus  Hunting  the  Lion  on  Horseback. 

by  its  beard  and  slain  it.  Precisely  the  same  custom  pre- 
vailed in  Assyria;  and  the  reliefs  show  King  Sardana- 
palus doing  battle  with  the  lion,  not  only  on  horseback 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


21 


Fig.  22.      Hunting  the  Lion  from  a  Chariot. 


Fig.  23.     Sardanapalus  Bearding  the  Lion. 
(The  king  of  Ashur  measures  his  strength  with  the  king  of  the  desert. 


Fig.  24.     Hunting  from  a  Boat. 


12 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


(Fig.  21)  and  from  liis  chariot  (Fig.  11) ,  but  also  in  hand 
to  hand  combat  (Fig.  23) , — the  King  of  Ashur  measur- 
ing his  strength  with  the  king  of  the  desert. 


Fig    25.     Caged  Lion  Set  Free  for  the  Chase. 


Fig.  26.     Servants  Carrying  Fruit,  Hares,  Partridges,  Spitted 
Grasshoppers,  and  Onions. 

Wq  catch  glimpses  of  the  preparations  which  were 
made  for  the  royal  meal  (Figs.  26  and  27)  ;   we  see  the 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


23 


servants  bringing  hares,  partridges,  spitted  grasshoppers, 
a  plenitude  of  cakes  and  all  manner  of  fruits,  and  carry- 
ing fresh  branches  for  driving  away  the  flies.  We  are 
even  permitted  to  see  on  a  bas-relief  of  the  harem  (Fig. 
28)  the  king  and  queen  quaffing  costly  wine  in  a  leafy 
bower,  the  king  reclining  on  an  elevated  divan,  the  queen 
seated  opposite  him  on  a  chair,  and  clothed  in  rich  gar- 
ments.     Eunuchs  waft  cooling  breezes  toward  them  from 


Fig.  27.     Slaves  Carrying  Fruit 

their  fans,  while  soft  music  from  distant  sources  steals 
gently  upon  their  ears  (Fig.  29) .  This  is  the  only  queen 
of  whom  we  possess  a  picture.  Her  profile  as  it  appeared 
years  ago  in  a  better  state  of  preservation  has  been  saved 
for  posterity  by  a  sketch  made  in  1867  by  Lieutenant, 
afterwards  Colonel,  Billerbeck  (Fig.  30) .  This  consort 
of  Sardanapalus  was  apparently  a  princess  of  Aryan  blood 
with  blond  hair. 

Many  other  things  of  interest  in  iVssyrian  antiquity 


24 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


Fig.  28.     King  Sard.\napalus  and  His  Consort. 


Fig.  29.     Attendants  Upon  King  Sardanapalus  and  His  Consort. 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


25 


have  also  been  restored  to  our  bodily  vision.  The  prophet 
Isaiah  (xlvi.  1)  mentions  the  procession  of  the  idols,  and 
in  Fig.  31  we  actually  wit- 
ness one,  — with  the  god- 
desses in  front,  and  behind, 
the  god  of  the  weather 
armed  with  hammer  and 
bolts ;  Assyrian  soldiers 
have  been  commanded  to 
transport  the  idols. 

We  see  in  Figure  32 
how  the  statues  of  the 
gigantic  stone  bulls  were 
transported,  and  catch  in 
this  way  all  manner  of 
glimpses  of  the  technical 
knowledge  of  the  Assy- 
rians.     But  our  greatest    and   most    constant   delight   is 


'v" 

1 

WW 

'    V/^ 

f  ^ 

i 

1- . 

M^iua:!^- 

' 

*-- 

Fig.  30.  Consort  of  Sardanapalus. 
(From  a  sketch  by  Colonel  Billerbeck.) 


Fig.  31.     Procession  of  Idols. 

derived  from  the  contemplation  of  their  noble  and  simple 
architecture,  as  it  is  exhibited  for  example  in  the  portal 


26 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


Fig.  32.     Transportation  of  the  Gigantic  Stone  Bulls. 


Qd^MI^JMhM 


1 

1  H 

1 

\ 

\  \  \ 

j 

1 

1 

1 

t 

Uil   . 

4.1. 


h^m&Mi^^A 


^  ■ ■  LE 

Fig.  33      Portal  of  the  Palace  of  Sargon. 
(Representicg  the  noble  style  and  simplicity  of  the  Assyrian  architecture 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


21 


of  Sargon's  palace  excavated  by  Botta  (Fig.  2)2)) ,  or  from 
tlie  magnificent  representations  of  animals,  replete  with 
the  most  startling  realism,  which  these  "Dutchmen  of 
antiquity"  created.  For  example,  the  idyllic  picture  of 
the  grazing  antelopes  (Fig.  13a ;  also  Fig.  34) ,  or  the 
d^dng  lioness  of  Nineveh,  so  justly  renowned  in  art 
(Fig.  35). 


Fig.  34.     Idyllic  Scenes  from  Assyrian  Art. 

The  excavations  on  Babylonian  soil  disclose  in  like 
manner  the  art  and  culture  of  the  mother  country  of  As- 
syrian civilisation  far  back  in  the  fourth  millennium, — a 
period  which  the  boldest  flights  of  fancy  would  otherwise 
have  scarcely  dreamt  of  recovering.  We  penetrate  lastly 
here  into  the  period  of  that  primitive  un-Indo-Germanic 
and  likewise  un-Semitic  nation  of  Sumerians,  who  are 


28 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


the  creators  and  originators  of  the  great  Babylonian  civ- 
ilisation, of  those  Sumerians  for  whom  the  number  60 
and  not  100  constituted  the  next  higher  unit  after  10. 


Fig.  35.    The  Dying  Lioness  of  Nineveh. 

That  Sumerian  Priest-King  whose  magnificently  pre- 
served head  (Fig.  36)  the  Berlin  Museum  now  shelters. 


Fig.  36.     Head  of  a  Sumerian  Priest-King. 
(A  noble  type  from  the  dawn  of  human  history.) 

may  unquestionably  be  characterised  as  a  noble  represen- 
tative of  the  human  race  from  the  twilight  of  history. 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  29 

But  gratifying  and  instructive  as  all  these  discov- 
eries may  be,  they  have  3^et,  so  to  speak,  the  significance 
of  details  and  externalities  only,  and  are  easily  surpassed 
in  scope  and  importance  by  the  revelations  which  it  still 
remains  for  us  to  adduce. 

I  am  not  referring  now  to  the  highly  important  fact 
that  the  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  methods  of  reckoning 
time,  which  were  based  on  accurate  astronomical  observa- 
tions of  solar  eclipses,  etc.,  enabled  us  to  determine  the 
chronology  of  the  events  narrated  in  the  Book  of  Kings, 
— a  circumstance  that  was  doubly  gratifying  owing  to  the 
discovery  of  Robertson  Smith  and  Wellhausen  that  the 
chronology  of  the  Old  Testament  had  been  forcibly  made 
to  conform  to  a  system  of  sacred  numbers,  which  counted 
480  3^ears  from  the  end  of  the  Exile  back  to  the  founding 
of  the  temple  of  Solomon,  and  again  480  3^ears  backward 
from  that  date  to  the  Exodus  of  the  children  of  Israel 
from  Egj^pt  (1  Kings  vi.  1) . 

I  can  also  adduce  in  this  place  but  a  single,  and  that 
an  inconspicuous,  illustration  of  the  far-reaching  influence 
which  the  cuneiform  investigations  have  exercised  on  our 
uiidej'standing  of  the  text  of  the  Old  Testa7jzent^ — a  result 
due  to  the  remarkably  close  affinity  between  the  Baby- 
lonian and  Hebrew  languages  and  to  the  enormous  com- 
pass of  the  Babylonian  literature.  We  read  in  Numbers 
vi.  24-27: 

"The  Lord  bless  thee,  and  keep  thee:  The  Lord 
make  his  face  to  shine  upon  thee,  and  be  gracious  unto 
thee:  The  Lord  lift  up  his  countenance  upon  thee,  and 
give  thee  peace." 

Countless  times  has  this  blessing  been  given  and  re- 


30  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

ceived !  But  it  was  never  understood  in  its  full  depth 
and  import  until  Babylonian  usage  informed  us  that  ' '  to 
lift  up  one's  countenance  or  eyes  upon  or  to  another," 
was  a  form  of  speech  for  "bestowing  one's  love  upon  an- 
other, for  gazing  lovingly  and  feelingly  upon  another,  as 
a  bridegroom  upon  a  bride,  or  a  father  upon  a  son."  This 
ancient  and  glorious  benediction,  therefore,  invokes  on 
man  with  increasing  emphasis  God's  blessing  and  protec- 
tion, God's  benignant  and  gracious  consideration,  and 
lastly  God's  own  love, — finally  to  break  forth  into  that 
truly  beautiful  greeting  of  the  Orient,  "Peace  be  with 
thee!" 

Yet  the  greatest  and  most  unexpected  service  that 
Babel  ever  rendered  the  philological  interpretation  of  the 
Bible  must  yield  the  palm  for  wide-reaching  significance 
to  the  fact  that  here  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  and 
Tigris  as  early  as  2250  B.  C.  we  find  a  highly  oi'ganised 
constittitiotial  state.  Here  in  these  Babylonian  lowlands, 
having  an  area  not  greater  than  that  of  Italj^,  yet  extra- 
ordinarily rich  b}^  nature  and  transformed  by  human  in- 
dustry into  a  veritable  hotbed  of  productiveness,  there 
existed  in  the  third  millennium  before  Christ  a  civilisa- 
tion comparable  in  many  respects  with  our  own. 

It  was  Hammurabi,  the  Amraphel  of  the  Bible,  that 
ultimately  succeeded  in  expelling  the  Elamites,  the  her- 
editary enemy  of  Babylon,  from  the  country,  and  in  weld- 
ing North  and  South  together  into  a  single  union,  with 
Babylon  as  political  and  religious  center.  His  first  solici- 
tude was  to  establish  a  uniform  system  of  law  over  the 
entire  country,  and  he  accordingly  promulgated  a  juridic 
code  that  determined  in  the  minutest  manner  the  rights 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE  31 

and  privileges  of  liis  citizens.  The  relations  of  master, 
slave,  and  hireling,  of  merchant  and  apprentice,  of  land- 
lord and  tenant,  are  here  precisely  fixed.  There  is  a  law, 
for  example,  that  a  clerk  who  has  delivered  money  to  his 
superior  for  goods  that  he  has  sold  shall  obtain  a  receipt 
for  the  transaction.  Reductions  in  rent  are  provided  for 
in  case  of  damage  by  storms  and  wild  beasts.  The  fish- 
ing rights  of  boroughs  along  the  canals  are  precisely  de- 
fined. And  so  on.  Babylon  is  the  seat  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  to  which  all  knotty  and  disputed  points  of  law  are 
submitted.  Every  able-bodied  man  is  subject  to  military 
duty.  But  Hammurabi  softened  by  many  decisions  the 
severity  of  the  recruiting  laws ;  for  example,  in  the  inter- 
ests of  stock-raising  he  exempted  herdsmen  from  military 
service,  and  he  also  conferred  special  privileges  on  an- 
cient priestly  families. 

We  read  of  money  having  been  coined  in  Babylon, 
and  the  distinctively  cursive  character  of  their  script 
points  to  a  very  extensive  use  of  writing.  Many  letters 
of  this  ancient  period  have  been  preserved.  We  read,  for 
example,  the  letter  of  a  wife  to  her  absent  husband,  ask- 
ing his  advice  on  some  trivial  matter ;  the  epistle  of  a 
son  to  his  father,  announcing  that  a  certain  person  has 
unspeakably  offended  him,  and  that  his  impulse  is  to  give 
the  miscreant  a  severe  drubbing,  but  that  he  prefers  to 
have  the  advice  of  his  father  on  the  matter;  and  another, 
still  stranger  one,  in  which  a  son  implores  his  father  to 
send  him  at  once  the  money  that  he  has  so  long  promised 
him,  fortifying  his  request  with  the  contumelious  insin- 
uation that  in  that  event  only  Mill  he  feel  justified  in  re- 
suming his  prayers   for  his   father's   salvation.     Every- 


?>2 


BABEL  AXD  BIBLE. 


O? 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


33 


tiling,  in  fact,  points  to  a  thoroughly  organised  postal 
system  throughout  the  empire,  and  this  conclusion  is 
corroborated  by  the  distinctest  evidence  that  there  existed 
causeways  and  canals  in  Babylonia  which  extended  far 
beyond  its  boundaries  and  M'hich  were  kept  in  perfect 
condition. 

Commerce  and  industry,   stock-raising  and  agricul- 
ture, flourished  here  in  an  eminent  degree,  while  science. 


Fig.  38.     Palace  of  King  Sargon  at  Khorsabad. 
(Restored  by  Victor  Place.) 

geometry,  mathematics,  and  notably  astronomy,  attained 
a  height  of  development  that  has  repeatedly  evoked  the 
admiration  of  modern  scientists.  Certainly  not  Paris, 
and  at  most  Rome,  can  bear  comparison  with  Babylon  in 
the  extent  of  influence  which  it  exercised  upon  the  world 
for  2000  years. 

Bitter  testimony  do  the  prophets  of  the  Old  Testa- 


34 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


meiit  bear  to  the  surpassing  splendor  and  unconquerable 
might  of  the  Babylon  of  Nebuchadnezzar  (see  Figs.  37, 
38,  39,  40,  and  41) .  "  Babylon,"  cries  Jeremiah,  ''hath 
been  a  golden  cup  in  Yahveh's  hand,  that  made  all  the 
earth  drunken"  (Jer.  li.  7)  ;  and  the  Revelation  of  St. 
John  still  quivers  with  the  detested  memor^^  of  Babel  the 
Great,  the  gay  voluptuous  city,  the  wealth-teeming  me- 
tropolis of  commerce  and  art,  the  mother  of  harlots  and 


ri  ■    ri,  


Fig.  39.     P.A.L.-\CE  OF  Senn.-\cherib  at  Nineveh. 
(Imaginative  Restoration.     After  Ferguson.) 

of  all  abominations  of  the  earth.  Yet  so  far  back  as  the 
beginning  of  the  third  millennium  before  Christ  Babylon 
had  been  this  great  focus  of  culture,  science,  and  litera- 
ture, the  "brain"  of  Hither  Asia,  the  power  that  dom- 
inated the  world. 

In  the  winter  of  1887,  a  band  of  Eg3q^tian  fellahs 
who  were  excavating  in  the  ruins  of  the  ])alaces  of  Amen- 
ophis  IV.  at  El-Amarna,  between  Thebes  and  Memphis, 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  35 

discovered  about  300  clay  tablets  of  man^^  forms  and 
sizes.  These  tablets  were  found  to  contain  the  corre- 
spondence of  Babylonian,  Assyrian,  and  Mesopotamian 
kings  with  the  Pharaohs  Amenophis  III.  and  IV.,  and, 
most  important  of  all,  the  letters  of  the  Egyptian  gover- 
nors of  the  great  Canaanite  cities  of  Tyre,  Sidon,  Akko, 
Askalon,  etc.,  to  the  Egyptian  court;  and  the  museum 
at  Berlin  is  so  fortunate  as  to  possess  the  only  letters  that 


Fig.  40.    Chariot  and  Attendants  of  Sennacherib  with  Castle 
ON  a  Mountain.     (After  Layard.) 

came  from  Jerusalem, — letters  written  before  the  entrance 
of  the  Israelites  into  the  promised  land.  Like  a  powerful 
searchlight,  these  clay  tablets  of  El-Amarna  shed  a  flood 
of  dazzling  effulgence  upon  the  profound  obscurit}^  which 
shrouded  the  political  and  cultural  conditions  of  the  period 
from  1500  to  1400  B.C.;  and  the  mere  fact  that  the  mag- 
nates of  Canaan,  nay,  even  of  Cyprus,  made  use  of  the 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  ?)7 

Babylonian  language  and  script,  and  like  the  Babylonians 
wrote  on  clay  tablets,  the  mere  fact  that  the  Babylonian 
language  was  the  official  language  of  diplomatic  inter- 
course from  the  Euphrates  to  the  Nile,  is  in  itself  indis- 
putable proof  of  the  omnipotent  influence  which  Baby- 
lonian civilisation  and  literature  exercised  on  the  world 
from  the  year  2200  until  1400  B.  C. 

When  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel  invaded  the  land  of 
Canaan,  they  entered  a  country  which  belonged  absolutely 
to  the  domain  of  Babylonian  civilisation.  It  is  an  unim- 
portant but  characteristic  feature  of  the  prevailing  state 
of  things  that  a  Babylonish  garment  excited  the  avarice  of 
Achan  when  the  first  Canaanite  cit3^,  Jericho,  was  stormed 
and  plundered  (Joshua  vii.  21) .  And  not  onl}^  the  in- 
dustry, but  also  the  commerce  and  law,  the  customs  and 
the  science  of  Babylon  were  the  standards  of  the  land. 
Knowing  this,  Ave  comprehend  at  once  why  the  systems 
of  measures,  weights,  and  coins  used  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  the  external  form  of  their  laws  ("if  a  man  do 
this  or  that,  he  shall  be  punished  after  this  manner  or 
that")  are  Babylonian  throughout.  So  also  the  sacer- 
dotal customs  and  the  methods  of  offering  sacrifices  Avere 
profoundly  influenced  by  Babylonian  models ;  and  it  is  a 
remarkable  fact  that  Israelitic  traditions  are  altogether  at 
variance  in  their  accounts  of  the  origin  of  the  Sabbath, — 
as  will  be  rendered  apparent  by  a  comparison  of  Exodus 
XX.  11  and  Deuteronomy  v.  15.  But  now  the  matter  is 
clearer. 

The  Babylonians  also  had  their  Sabbath  day  {sha- 
battti) ,  and  a  calendar  of  feasts  and  sacrifices  has  been 
unearthed   according   to  which   the   7th,   14th,   21st,   and 


38  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

28tli  da3\s  of  every  montli  were  set  apart  as  da^^s  on  which 
no  work  should  be  done,  on  which  the  king  should  not 
change  his  robes,  nor  mount  his  chariot,  nor  offer  sacri- 
fices, nor  render  legal  decisions,  nor  eat  of  boiled  or 
roasted  meats,  on  which  not  even  a  physician  should  lay 
hands  on  the  sick.  Now  this  setting  apart  of  the  sev- 
enth day  for  the  propitiation  of  the  gods  is  really  under- 
stood from  the  Babylonian  point  of  view,  and  there  can 
therefore  be  scarcely  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  that  in  the 
last  resort  we  are  indebted  to  this  ancient  nation  on  the 
banks  of  the  Euphrates  and  the  Tigris  for  the  plenitude 
of  blessings  that  flows  from  our  day  of  Sabbath  or  Sun- 
day rest. 

And  more  still.  There  is  a  priceless  treasure  in  the 
Berlin  Museum,  a  tablet  of  clay,  containing  the  Babylo- 
nian legend  of  how  it  came  to  pass  that  the  first  man  for- 
feited the  boon  of  immortality.  The  place  where  this 
tablet  was  found,  namely  El-Amarna  in  Eg^^pt,  and  the 
numerous  dots  scattered  over  it  in  red  Egj^ptian  ink, 
showing  the  pains  that  some  Egyptian  scholar  had  taken 
to  master  the  intricacies  of  the  foreign  text,  are  ocular 
evidence  of  the  zeal  with  which  the  productions  of  Baby- 
lonian literature  were  cultivated  over  the  vast  extent  of 
territory  which  stretched  from  Canaan  to  the  land  of  the 
Pharaohs.  Shall  we  be  astonished,  therefore,  to  learn 
that  entire  C3xles  of  Biblical  stories  have  been  suddenly 
brought  to  light  from  the  darkness  of  the  Babylonian 
treasure-heaps,  in  much  purer  and  more  primitive  form 
than  they  exist  in  the  Bible  itself? 
I  The  Babylonians  divided  their  history  into  two  great 

periods :  that  before  the  Flood  and  that  after  the  Flood. 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  39 

Babylonia  was  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word  the  land  of 
deluges.  Like  all  alluvial  lowlands  bordering  on  great 
streams  that  flow  into  the  sea,  it  was  exposed  to  floods  of 
the  direst  and  most  unique  character.  It  is  the  home  of 
the  cyclone  or  tornado,  Mitli  its  accompaniment  of  earth- 
quake and  cloudburst.  Only  twenty-five  years  ago,  in 
the  year  1876,  a  tornado  of  this  character  gathered  in  the 
Bay  of  Bengal,  and  amid  the  crashing  of  thunder  and 
with  a  violence  so  terrific  as  to  dismast  ships  distant 
nearly  two  hundred  miles,  approached  the  delta  of  the 
Ganges,  met  the  ebbing  tide,  and  engulfing  it  in  its  own 
titanic  tidal-wave,  hurled  oceans  of  water  over  an  area  of 
141  square  leagues  to  a  depth  of  45  feet,  drowning  215,000 
human  beings,  and  only  losing  its  strength  as  it  broke 
against  the  highlands  that  lay  beyond.  Now  the  credit 
belongs  to  the  celebrated  Viennese  geologist,  Eduard 
Suess,  for  having  discovered  the  exact  and  detailed  de- 
scription of  just  such  a  tornado  in  the  Babylonian  story 
of  the  Flood  inscribed  on  this  tablet  (Fig.  42)  from  the 
library  of  Sardanapalus  at  Nineveh  and  committed  to 
writing  2000  years  before  Christ.  The  sea  plays  the  prin- 
cipal part  in  this  flood,  and  therefore  the  ark  of  the  Baby- 
lonian Noah,  Xisuthros,  is  cast  back  upon  a  spur  of  the 
Armenio-Medean  mountains ;  but  in  other  respects  it  is 
the  same  old  story  of  the  Flood,  so  familiar  to  us  all.  - 
Xisuthros  receives  from  the  god  of  the  watery  deep 
the  command  to  build  a  ship  of  certain  dimensions,  to 
coat  it  thoroughly  with  pitch,  and  to  put  on  board  of  it 
his  entire  family  together  with  the  seeds  of  all  living 
things.  The  ship  is  entered,  its  doors  are  closed,  it  is 
cast   adrift  upon  the   devastating  waves,    and   is  finally 


40 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


stranded  upon  a  mountain  bearinf^  the  name  of  Nizir. 
Then  follows  the  famous  passage:  "  On  the  seventh  day 
I  took  forth  a  dove  and  released  it ;  the  dove  flew  hither 
and  thither,  but  finding  no  resting-place  returned."  We 
then  read  that  a  swallow  was  sent  forth  ;  it  also  found  no 
resting-place  and  returned.  Finally  a  raven  was  sent 
forth,  which,  noticing  that  the  waters  had  subsided,  did 


r»-»/-'.»^-..~7>,-'— /-r-r 


Fig.  42.     Tablet  Containing  Babylonian  Story  of  the  Flood. 

not  return.  Xisuthros  then  abandons  his  ship  and  offers 
sacrifices  on  the  summit  of  the  mountain.  The  sweet 
odor  was  scented  by  the  gods,  etc.,  etc. 

This  entire  story,  precisely  as  it  is  here  written, 
afterwards  travelled  to  Canaan,  but  owing  to  the  totally 
different  conformation  of  the  land  in  this  latter  country, 
it  was  forgotten  that  the  sea  had  played  the  principal  role, 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  41 

and  we  accordingly  find  in  the  Bible  two  distinct  versions 
of  the  Flood,  which  are  not  only  absolutely  impossible 
from  the  point  of  view  of  natural  science,  but  are  also  at 
diametrical  variance  with  each  other,  the  one  giving  as 
the  duration  of  the  Flood  a  period  of  365  days  and  the 
other  a  period  of  40  +  (3  X  7) ,  or  61  days.  We  owe  the 
discovery  that  two  fundamentally  different  versions  of  the 
story  of  the  Flood  were  welded  together  into  one  in  the 
Bible,  to  the  orthodox  Catholic  body  surgeon  of  Louis 
XV.,  Jean  Astruc,  who,  in  the  year  1753  first  submitted, 
as  Goethe  expresses  it,  the  books  of  Moses  "  to  the  probe 
and  knife,"  and  thus  became  the  founder  of  Pentateuch 
criticism,  or  that  branch  of  inquiry  which  seeks  to  in- 
crease and  clarify  our  knowledge  of  the  many  diversified 
sources  of  which  the  Five  Books  of  Moses  are  composed. 

These  are  facts  which  from  the  point  of  view  of  sci- 
ence are  as  immutable  as  rock,  however  stubbornly  people 
on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  may  close  their  e3'es  to 
them.  When  we  remember  that  minds  of  the  stamp  of 
Luther  and  Alelancthon  once  contemptuously  rejected  the 
Copernican  S3^stem  of  astronomy,  we  may  be  certain  that 
the  results  of  the  scientific  criticism  of  the  Pentateuch 
will  tarry  long  for  recognition.  Yet  it  is  just  as  certain 
that  some  day  they  will  be  openly  admitted. 

The  ten  Babylonian  kings  who  reigned  before  the 
Flood  have  also  been  accepted  in  the  Bible  as  the  ten 
antediluvian  patriarchs,  and  the  agreement  is  perfect  in 
all  details. 

In  addition  to  the  Babylonian  Gilgamesh  epic,  the 
eleventh  tablet  of  which  contains  the  story  of  the  Flood, 


42  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

we  possess  another  beautiful  Babylonian  poem,  the  story 
of  the  Creation. 

In  the  primordial  beginning  of  things,  according  to 
this  epic,  down  in  the  gloomy  chaos,  surged  and  raged 
the  primeval  waters,  the  name  of  which  was  Tiamat. 
When  the  gods  declared  their  intention  of  forming  an 
orderly  cosmos  out  of  the  chaos,  Tiamat  arose  (usually 
represented  as  a  dragon,  but  also  as  a  seven-headed  ser- 
pent) ,  and  made  ready  for  combat  to  the  death.  Monsters 
of  all  descriptions  she  spawned  from  her  might3^  depths, 
especially  gigantic  venom-blown  serpents ;  and  in  their 
company  she  set  forth  bellowing  and  snorting  to  her  con- 
flict with  the  gods.  The  Celestials  quaked  with  terror 
when  they  saw  their  direful  foe.  The  god  Marduk  alone, 
the  god  of  light,  of  dawn,  and  of  the  vernal  sun,  came 
forward  to  do  battle  with  her,  his  sole  stipulation  being 
that  sovereign  rank  among  the  gods  should  be  accorded 
him. 

Then  follows  a  splendid  scene.  First  the  god  Mar- 
duk fastened  a  gigantic  net  to  the  East  and  the  South,  to 
the  North  and  the  West,  lest  any  part  of  Tiamat  should 
escape.  He  then  mounted  in  shining  armor  and  radiant 
with  majesty  his  celestial  chariot,  which  was  drawn  b3^ 
four  spirited  steeds,  the  admired  cynosure  of  the  eyes  of 
all  the  surrounding  gods.  Straightwa}^  he  made  for  the 
dragon  and  her  dread  embattled  train,  sending  forth  his 
challenge  for  the  contest.  Then  Tiamat  shrieked  loudly 
and  fiercel}^,  till  her  deepmost  foundations  trembled  and 
shook.  She  opened  her  maw  to  its  uttermost,  but  before 
she  could  shut  her  lips  Marduk  made  enter  into  her  belly 
the  evil  hurricane.     He  seized  his  lance  and  pierced  her 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  43 

heart.  He  cast  her  carcass  down  and  placed  himself  upon 
it,  whilst  her  helpers  were  taken  captive  and  placed  in 
close  confinement.  Thereupon  Marduk  cut  Tiamat  in 
twain,  as  cleanly  as  one  would  sever  a  fish,  and  of  the 
one  half  he  made  the  roof  of  heaven  and  of  the  other  he 
made  the  earth  ;  and  the  heaven  he  inlaid  with  the  moon, 
and  the  sun,  and  the  stars,  and  the  earth  he  covered  with 
plants  and  animals,  until  finally  the  first  man  and  the 
first  woman,  made  of  mingled  clay  and  celestial  blood, 
came  forth  from  the  hand  of  their  creator. 

Since  Marduk  was  the  city-god  of  Babel,  it  is  quite 
intelligible  that  this  story  found  widespread  diffusion  in 
Canaan.  Nay,  the  poets  and  prophets  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment went  so  far  as  to  attribute  directly  to  Yahveh  the 
heroic  deeds  of  Marduk,  and  to  extol  him  as  the  cham- 
pion that  broke  the  head  of  the  dragons  in  the  water 
(Psalms  Ixxiv.  13  et  seq.  ;  Ixxxix.  10) ,  and  under  ^vhom 
the  helpers  of  the  dragon  stooped  (Job  ix.  13) . 

Passages  like  the  following  from  Isaiah  li.  9: 
"Awake,  awake,  put  on  strength,  O  arm  of  Yahveh;  awake, 
as  in  the  days  of  old,  in  the  generations  of  ancient  times.    Art  thou 
not  it  that  hath  cut  Rahab  in  pieces  and  pierced  the  dragon?" 

or  passages  like  that  from  Job  xxvi,  12  : 

"He  divideth  the  sea  with  his  power,  and  by  his  understand- 
ing he  smiteth  the  dragon," 

read  like  explanatory  comments  on  the  little  image  which 
our  expedition  found  representing  the  god  Marduk,  of 
the  powerful  arm,  the  far-seeing  eye,  and  the  far-hearing 
ear,  the  symbol  of  intelligence  clad  in  majestic  glory, 
with  the  conquered  dragon  of  the  primeval  waters  at  his 
feet  (Fig.  44) . 


iMg.  43      FiiK  ••Hi.\cK  Oi;iiLisK."' 

(Lenormant,  V.,  p.  329.) 
I  Erected  by  Shalinaneser  II.  (860-825  B.C.)  to 


Fig.  45.   Conical  Piece  of  Clay  from  a 
Babylonian  Coffin. 
record  the  victories  of  his  31  military  expeditions. 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  45 

The  priestly  author  that  wrote  the  first  chapter  of 
Genesis  took  infinite  pains  to  eliminate  all  mythological 
features  from  his  story  of  the  creation  of  the  world.  But 
since  his  story  begins  with  the  gloomy,  watery  chaos 
which  bears  precisely  the  same  name  as  Tiamat,  namely 
Tehofii^  and  since  this  chaos  was  first  divided  by  the 
light,  and  heaven  and  the  earth  appeared  afterwards,  and 
heaven  was  set  with  the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the  stars, 
and  the  earth  was  covered  with  flowers  and  with  animals, 
and  finally  the  first  man  and  woman  went  forth  from  the 
hand  of  God,  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  a  very  close  re- 
lationship between  the  Biblical  and  the  Babylonian  story 
of  the  creation  of  the  world ;  and  it  will  be  obvious  at  the 
same  time  how  absolutely  futile  all  attempts  are  and  will 
forever  remain,  to  harmonise  our  Biblical  story  of  the 
creation  with  the  results  of  natural  science. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  echoes  of  this  same  con- 
flict between  Marduk  and  Tiamat  may  still  be  heard  in 
the  Revelation  of  St.  John  the  Divine,  in  the  battle  be- 
tween the  archangel  Michael  and  the  beast  of  the  deep, 
"that  old  serpent  called  the  Devil  and  Satan."  This  en- 
tire group  of  stories,  which  is  also  represented  in  the  tale 
of  St.  George  and  the  dragon,  brought  by  the  crusaders 
from  the  East,  is  distinctively  Babylonian  in  character; 
inasmuch  as  many,  many  hundred  years  before  the  Apoc- 
alypse and  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  were  written,  we 
find  this  conflict  between  the  powers  of  light  and  the 
powers  of  darkness  renewed  at  the  break  of  every  day 
and  the  beginning  of  every  spring,  depicted  in  gorgeous 
relief  on  the  walls  of  the  Assyrian  palaces  (Fig.  46) . 

But    the    discovery   of    this' relationship    is    of    still 


46 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


greater  importance.  The  commandment  not  to  do  unto 
one's  neighbor  what  one  would  not  like  to  have  done  unto 
oneself  is  indelibly  engraven  on  every  human  heart. 
"  Thou  shalt  not  shed  the  blood  of  thy  neighbor,"  "  thou 
shalt  not  draw  near  thy  neighbor's  wife,"  "thou  shalt 
not  take  unto  th3^self  the  garment  of  thy  neighbor," — all 
these  fundamental   postulates   of  the   human   instinct  of 


Fig.  46.     Battle  Between  Marduk  and  Tiamat,  the  Powers  of  Light 

AND  THE  Powers  of  Darkness. 

(Ancient  Assyrian  bas-relief  now  in  the  British  Museum.) 

self-preservation  are  read  in  the  Babylonian  records  in 
precisely  the  same  order  as  they  are  given  in  the  fifth, 
sixth  and  seventh  commandments  of  the  Old  Testament. 
But  man  is  also  a  social  being,  and  for  this  reason  the 
commandments  of  humanity,  charity,  mercy,  and  love, 
also  form  an  inalienable  patrimony  of  the  human  race. 
Therefore  when  a  Babylonian  Magus  was  called  to  a  man 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  47 

who  was  ill  and  began  to  inquire  what  sin  had  stretched 
him  on  the  sick-bed,  he  did  not  rest  satisfied  with  the  re- 
cital of  the  greater  sins  of  commission  like  murder  and 
robbery,  but  he  asked  :  "  Hath  this  man  refused  to  clothe 
one  that  was  naked  ;  or  hath  he  refused  light  to  one  that 
was  imprisoned?"  The  Babylonian  lays  great  stress, 
too,  on  the  higher  forms  of  human  morality ;  speaking 
the  truth  and  keeping  one's  word  were  sacred  duties  with 
them,  while  to  say  "yes"  with  the  lips  and  "no"  with 
the  heart  was  a  punishable  transgression.  It  is  not  sur- 
prising that  infringements  of  these  commandments  were 
regarded  by  the  Babylonians  precisely  as  they  were  by 
the  Hebrews,  as  sins^  for  the  Babylonians  also  in  all  their 
doings  considered  themselves  as  dependent  on  the  gods. 
But  it  is  certainly  more  remarkable  that  they  also  con- 
ceived all  human  afflictions,  particularly  sickness  and 
death,  as  ?l pttnishment  for  sins.  In  Babel  as  in  the  Bible, 
the  notion  of  sin  dominates  everything.  Under  these 
circumstances  it  is  intelligible  that  Babylonian  thinkers 
also  pondered  deeply  over  the  problem  of  how  it  was  pos- 
sible that  a  creature  that  had  been  created  in  the  image 
of  God  and  was  God's  own  handiwork  could  have  fallen  a 
victim  to  sin  and  to  death ;  and  the  Bible  has  a  profound 
and  beautiful  story  of  the  temptation  of  woman  by  the 
serpent. 

The  serpent  again?  That  has  an  unmistakably  Baby- 
lonian ring.  It  was  doubtless  the  same  serpent,  the  pri- 
mordial foe  of  the  gods,  that  sought  to  revenge  itself  on 
the  gods  of  light  by  seeking  to  estrange  from  them  their 
noblest  creature?  Or  was  it  the  serpent  of  which  it  is 
once  said  that  it  "destroyed  the  dwelling-place  of  life"? 


48  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

The  question  as  to  the  origin  of  the  Biblical  story  of  the 
Fall  of  Man  is  of  the  utmost  importance  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  history  of  religion  as  well  as  from  that  of 
the  theology  of  the  New  Testament,  which,  as  is  well 
known,  contrasts  with  the  first  Adam  by  whom  sin  and 
death  were  brought  into  the  world,  a  second  Adam. 

May  I  lift  the  veil,  may  I  point  to  an  old  Babylonian 
cylinder-seal  (Fig.  47) ,  on  which  may  be  seen  in  the 
center  a  tree  bearing  pendent  fruits,  to  the  right  a  man, 

distinguishable  by  his  ' 
horns,  which  are  the  S3an- 
bol  of  strength,  to  the  left 
a  woman,  both  with  their 
hands  outstretched  to- 
J  ward  the  fruit,  and  be- 
^.  c         -r  c  hind  the  woman  the  ser- 

Fig.  47.     Sacred  Tree  and  Serpent. 
A  Babylonian  conception  of  the  Fall  of  Man.    pent?       Is    it  UOt  the  VCry 

'^'^    '"^  acme    of    likelihood    that 

there  is  some  connection  between  this  old  Babylonian 
picture  and  the  Biblical  tale  of  the  Fall  of  Man? 

Man  dies,  and  while  his  body  is  buried  in  the  grave 
his  departed  soul  descends  into  "the  land  of  no  return- 
ing,"  into   Sheol,   into   Hades,   into  the   gloomy,   dust- 
impregnated  localit}^,   where  the   shades    flutter   around \ 
like  birds  and  lead  a  joyless  and  sodden  existence.     Dust!  /j  1 
covers  the  doors  and  the  bolts,  and  everything  in  which; 
the  heart  of  man  took  delight  is  mouldy  and  dust-laden^ 

/"^  With   such  a  disconsolate   outlook  it   is  intelligible 

/ 
that  both  Hebrews  and  Babylonians  looked  upon  length 

of  days  here  below  as  the  sovereign  boon  ;   and  on  every 

single  one  of  the  great  flag-stones  with  which   the  holy 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  49 

Street  of  Marduk  in  Babylon  was  paved,  and  which  was 
discovered  by  the  German  expedition  to  that  city,  there 
was  engraved  a  prayer  of  Nebuchadnezzar  which  closed 
with  the  words:  "O,  Lord  Marduk,  grant  to  us  great 
length  of  days  !  " 

But  strange  to  say,  the  Babylonian  conception  of  the 
Underworld  is  one  degree  pleasanter  than  that  of  the  Old 
Testament.  On  the  twelfth  tablet  of  the  Gilgamesh  epic, 
the  Babylonian  Underworld  is  described  in  the  minutest 
details.  We  read  there  of  a  space  situated  beneath  the 
Underworld  which  was  apparently  reserved  for  souls  of 
unusual  piety  and  "in  which  they  reposed  on  beds  of 
ease  and  quaffed  clear  water. ' ' 

Many  Babylonian  coffins  have  been  found  in  Warka, 
Nippur,  and  Babel,  but  the  Berlin  Museum  recently  ac- 
quired a  small  conical  piece  of  clay  (Fig.  45) ,  which  has 
evidently  been  taken  from  a  coffin  of  this  kind,  and  the 
inscription  of  which  plaintively  requests  that  whosoever 
may  find  the  coffin  shall  leave  it  undisturbed  and  unin- 
jured in  its  original  resting-place  ;  and  the  text  concludes 
with  words  of  blessing  for  him  who  performs  so  kind  a 
deed :  "May  his  name  be  blessed  in  the  Upperworld,  and 
in  the  Underworld  may  his  departed  spirit  drink  of  clear 
water." 

In  Sheol,  therefore,  there  exists  a  place  for  particu- 
larly pious  souls,  where  they  repose  on  beds  of  ease  and 
quaff  clear  water.  The  remainder  of  Sheol,  therefore, 
appears  to  be  especially  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  im- 
pious and  to  be  not  only  dusty  but  to  be  also  without 
water,  or  at  most  furnishing  "roily  water,"— in  any 
event  a  place  of  thirst. 


50  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

In  the  Book  of  Job  (xxiv.  18) ,  wliicli  appears  to  be 
extremely  conversant  with  Babylonian  modes  of  thought, 
we  find  comparisons  drawn  between  the  arid,  waterless 
desert  which  is  reserved  for  those  that  have  sinned,  and 
the  garden  with  fresh,  clear  w^ater  which  is  reserved  for 
the  pious.  And  in  the  New  Testament,  which  has  most 
curiously  amalgamated  this  sentiment  with  the  last  verse 
of  the  Book  of  Isaiah,  we  read  of  a  flaming  hell  in  which 
the  rich  man  languishes  from  want  of  w^ater,  and  of  a 
garden  (for  that  is  the  meaning  of  Paradise)  full  of  fresh, 
clear  water  for  Lazarus . 

And  the  pictures  which  painters  and  poets,  theo- 
logians and  priests,  and  last  of  all  Mahomet  the  prophet, 
have  drawn  of  this  Hell  and  this  Paradise,  are  well 
known. 

Behold  yonder  poor  Moslem,  sick  and  feeble,  who  on 
account  of  his  weakness  has  been  abandoned  by  the  cara- 
van in  the  desert.  A  jug  filled  with  water  is  by  his  side. 
With  his  own  hands  he  digs  his  shallow  grave  in  the  des- 
ert sands,  resignedly  awaiting  his  death.  His  eyes  are 
aglow  with  expectation,  for  in  a  few  moments  angels  Mill 
issue  from  the  open  portals  of  Paradise  and  greet  him 
with  the  w^ords :  ^''  Selain  ^alaika^  thou  hast  been  a  god- 
fearing man ;  enter  therefore  for  all  eternity  the  garden 
that  Allah  has  prepared  for  his  own." 

The  garden  stretches  before  him  like  the  vast  ex- 
panse of  heaven  and  earth.  Luxuriant  groves  casting 
plentiful  shadows  and  laden  with  sweet  fruits  are  inter- 
sected in  all  directions  with  babbling  brooks  and  dotted 
with  bubbling  springs ;  while  aerial  bowers  rise  from  the 
banks    of   the    streams.     Paradisian    glory    suffuses    the 


BABKL  AND  BIBLE. 


51 


countenances  of  the  beatified  ones,  who  are  filled  with 
happiness  and  serenity.  They  wear  green  brocaded  gar- 
ments made  of  the  finest  silk ;  their  arms  are  adorned 
with  gold  and  silver  spangles ;  they  lie  on  couches  with 
lofty  bolsters  and  soft  pillows,  and  at  their  feet  are 
thick  carpets.  So  they  rest, 
seated  opposite  one  another 
at  richly -furnished  tables 
which  offer  them  ever^^thing 
their  hearts  desire.  Brim- 
ming goblets  go  the  rounds, 
and  youths  endowed  with 
immortality  and  resembling 
scattered  pearls  carry  silver 
beakers  and  crystal  vessels 
filled  with  Mai'n,  the  most 
delicious  and  clearest  water 
from  the  spring  Tasnim, 
from  which  the  archangels 
drink,  redolent  with  cam- 
phor and  ginger.  And  this 
water  is  mixed  with  the 
rarest  old  wine,  of  which 
one  can  drink  as  much  as 
one  pleases,  for  it  does  not 
inebriate  and  causes  no  headaches. 

And  then  there  are  the  maidens  of  Paradise !  Maidens 
with  skin  as  soft  and  delicate  as  the  ostrich  egg,  with 
voluptuous  bosoms,  and  with  eyes  like  glittering  pearls 
concealed  in  shells  of  oysters, — gazelle-like  eyes  full  of 
chaste   but    enrapturing  glances.     Two   and   seventy   of 


Fig,  48.     Assyrian  Angel. 

Type  representing   manly  strength  and 

intelligence.    (Bas-relief  of  Kuyunjik. 

Lenormant,   IV.,  pp.   432-433.) 


52 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


these  Paradisian  maidens  may  every  god-fearing  man 
choose  unto  himself,  in  addition  to  the  wives  that  he  pos- 
sessed on  earth,  provided  he  cares  to  have  them  (and  the 
good  man  will  always  cherish  desire  for  the  good) .  All 
hatred  and  envy  has  departed  from  the  breasts  of  the  de- 
vout ones;  no  gossip,  no  slander,  is  heard  in  Paradise. 
^^  Se/(7?f/j  Selam!^^  everywhere;   and  all  utterances  con- 


Fig.  49.     Angels  with  Eagle  Heads 
The  Holy  Tree  in  the  Centre.     (British  Museum.) 


elude  with  the  ringing  words :  cl-haindii  lillalii  rabbi-l- 
''alainiu^  the  praise  is  the  Lord's,  the  master  of  all  crea- 
tures. _: 
This  is  the  culminating  point  in  the  development  of 
that  simple  and  unpretentious  Bab3'lonian  conception  of 
the  crystal-clear  water  which  god-fearing  men  M-ere  des- 
tined to  drink  in  Slicol.     And  these  conceptions  of  the 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


53 


torments  of  Hell  and  of  the  blissful  pleasures  of  Paradise, 
to-da3^  swa3^  the  hearts  of  untold  millions.  \^  ^- 

It  is  well-known,  also,  that  the  conceptions  of  the  '^ 
messengers  of  the  gods,  or  of  the  angels^  Avith  which  the 
Egyptians  were  utterlj^  unacquainted,  are  characteristi- 
cally Bab3donian,  and  also  that  the  conception  of  cheru- 


10  > 


r^ 


lJ^I 


Fig.  50.     Winged  Cherub,  with  Body  of  Bull  and  Human  Head 
(After  Layard.) 

bim  and  seraphim  and  of  the  guardian  angels  that  watch 
over  the  waj's  of  men  had  its  origin  in  Bab3don.  The 
Babylonian  rulers  stood  in  need  of  hosts  of  messengers 
to  bear  their  behests  into  all  quarters  of  their  dominions ; 
and  so  also  their  gods  were  obliged  to  have  at  their  beck 


54 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


and  call  legions  of  messengers  or  angels, — messengers 
with  the  intelligence  of  men,  and  therefore  having  the 
form  of  men,  bnt  at  the  same  time  equipped  with  wings, 
in  order  to  be  able  to  carry  through  the  winds  of  heaven 
the  commands  of  the  gods  to  the  inhabitants  of  earth  ;  in 
addition,  these  angels  were  invested  with  the  keenness  of 
vision  and  the  rapidity  of  flight  of  the  eagle  ;   and  to  those 


Fig.  50a.     Winged  Cherub,  with  Body  of  Lion  and  Human  Head 
(After  Layard.) 

whose  chief  ofhce  it  was  to  guard  the  entrance  to  their 
divine  masters  was  imparted  the  unconquerable  strength 
of  the  bull,  or  the  awe-inspiring  majesty  of  the  lion. 
(Figs.  48,  49,  50,  and  50^-.) 

The  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  angels,  like  those  in 
Ezekiel's  vision,  are  very  often  of  hybrid  shape.  Take, 
for  example,  the  cherubim  of  which  a  type  is  given  in 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


55 


Fig.  50,  with,  their  wings,  their  bull's  bodies,  and  their 
honest,  serious  human  countenances.  Then  again  we 
find  types  like  that  discovered  in  the  palace  of  Ashurna- 
zirpal  (Fig.  51) ,  which  bears  the  closest  possible  resem- 
blance to  our  conception  of  angels.  These  noble  and 
radiant  figures,  which  art  has  rendered  so  attractive  and 
familiar  in  our  eyes,  will  always  retain  a  kindly  place  in 
our  hearts. 


Fig.  51.     Angels  WITH  Human  Heads. 
(Noble  types  closely  resembling  the  Christian  conception  of  angels.) 

But  the  demons  and  the  devils^  whether  they  take 
for  us  the  form  of  the  enemies  of  man  or  that  of  the 
primordial  foes  of  God, — to  these  we  were  destined  to  bid 
farewell  for  all  eternity,  for  the  ancient  Persian  dualism 
was  not  after  our  hearts.  "  I  form  the  light  and  create 
darkness:  I  make  peace  and  create  evil:  it  is  /,  YaJiveh^ 
that  do  all  these  things y     So  justly  declares  the  greatest 


56 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE, 


prophet  of  the  Old  Testament,  Isaiah  (xlv.  7) .  Demons 
like  that  represented  in  Fig.  52,— though  such  pictures 
are  not  without  interest  for  the  history  of  duelling,— or 
caricatures  like  that  represented  in  Fig.  53,  may  be  com- 


Fig.  52.     Duel  of  Lion-Headed  and  Eagle-Footed  Demons. 
(British  Museum.     After  Lenormant.) 

mitted  forever  and  aye  to  the  obscurity  of  the  Babylonian 
hills  from  which  they  have  risen.      (See  also  Fig.  54.) 

In  his  excavations  at  Khorsabad,  Victor  Place  dis- 
covered the  supply-depot  of  the  palace  of  Sargon.  One 
of  the  store-rooms  contained  pottery  of  all  sorts  and  sizes, 


BABEIv  AND  BIBLE. 


57 


and  another  utensils  and  implements  made  of  iron.  Here 
were  found  arranged  in  beautiful  order  abundant  supplies 
of  cHains,  nails,  plugs,  mattocks,  and  boes,  and  tbe  iron 
bad  been  so  admirably  wrought  and  was  so  well  preserved 
that  it  rang  like  a  bell  when  struck ;  and  some  of  these 
implements  which  were  then  twenty-five  centuries  old 
could  be  forthwith  put  into 
actual  use  by  the  Arabian 
workmen. 

This  drastic  intrusion  of 
Assyrian  antiquity  upon  our 
own  days  naturally  fills  us 
with  amazement,  and  yet  it  is 
nothing  more  than  what  has 
happened  in  the  intellectual 
domain.  When  we  distinguish 
the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac 
and  call  them  Aries,  Taurus, 
Gemini,  etc.  (see  Fig,  55) , 
when  we  divide  the  circle  into 
360  parts,  the  hour  into  60 
minutes,  and  the  minute  into 
60  seconds,  and  so  on, — in  all 
this,  Sumerian  and  Babylo- 
nian civilisation  still  lives  with  us  to-day. 

And  possibly  I  have  also  been  successful  in  my  en- 
deavor to  show  that  many  Babylonian  features  still  cling, 
through  the  medium  of  the  Bible,  to  our  religious  think- 
ing. 

The  elimination  from  our  religious  thought  of  the 
purely  human  conceptions  derived  from  these  admittedly 


Fig.  53.   Babylonian  DhViL. 

Demon  of  the  Southwest  Wind. 

(Louvre.      After  Smith  ) 


58 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


talented  peoples,  and  the  liberation  of  our  thought  gen- 
erally from  the  shackles  of  deep-rooted  prejudices,  will  in 
no  wise  impair  true  religion  and  the  true  religious  spirit, 
as  these  have  been  taught  us  by  the  prophets  and  poets 
of  the  Old  Testament,  but  most  sublimely  of  all  by 
Jesus;   on  the  contrary,  both  will  come  forth  from  this 


-.  Alii  3^}  j.4ii  % 

''1'/i  '"     I    1   \    W  ^ 


Fig.  54      A  Demon  Supporting  a  Tablet.' 
(Assyrian  bronze  tablet.     After  Lenormant.) 

process  of  purification  far  truer  and  far  more  intensified 
than  ever  they  were  before. 

I  may  be  allowed  finally  a  word  with  regard  to  the 
feature  that  invests  the  Bible  with  its  main  significance 

'  The  two  upper  horizontal  strips  in  the  left-hand  side  of  the  figure  represent 
the  heavens  (the  celestial  bodies  and  the  celestial  genii).  The  third  strip  exhibits 
a  funeral  scene  on  earth.  The  fourth  strip  represents  the  Underworld  bathed  in 
the  floods  of  the  ocean. 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


59 


from  the  point  of  view  of  general  history, — its  monothe- 
ism. Here  too  Babel  early  opened  a  new  and  undreamt-of 
prospect. 

It  is  remarkable,  but  no  one  can  definitely  say  what 
our  Teutonic  word  God  originally  signified.  Philologists 
vacillate  between  "inspiring  timidity"  and  "delibera- 
tion."    But  the  word  which  the  Semitic  Canaanite  races, 


Fig.  55.     Sagittarius  and  Scorpio. 
Signs  of  the  Zodiac,  as  represented  by  the  Babylonians.     (Lenormant,  V.,  p.  180.) 

to  whom  the  Babylonians  are  most  nearly  related  and 
from  whom  the  Israelites  afterward  sprang,  coined  for 
God,  is  not  only  lucid  as  to  its  meaning,  but  conceives 
the  notion  of  divinity  under  so  profound  and  exalted  a 
form  that  this  word  alone  suffices  to  shatter  the  legend 
that  "the  Semites  were,  time  out  of  mind,  amazingly 
deficient  in  religious  instinct;  "  while  it  also  refutes  the 


60  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

popular  modern  conception  that  the  religion  of  Yahveh, 
and  therefore  also  our  Christian  belief  in  God,  is  ulti- 
mately sprung  from  a  species  of  fetishism  and  animism 
such  as  is  common  among  the  South  Sea  cannibals  or  the 
inhabitants  of  Tierra  del  Fuego. 

There  is  a  remarkably  beautiful  passage  in  the  Ko- 
ran, VI,  75  et  seq.,  which  so  fascinated  Goethe  that  he 
expressed  the  desire  to  see  it  dramatised.  Mahomet  has 
mentally  put  himself  in  the  place  of  Abraham,  and  is 
endeavoring  to  realise  the  manner  in  which  Abraham  had 
reached  the  monotheistic  idea.  He  says:  "And  when 
the  gloom  of  night  had  fallen,  Abraham  stepped  forth 
into  the  darkness ;  and  behold,  there  was  a  star  shining 
above  him.  Then  he  cried  out  in  his  gladness  :  '  This  is 
my  Lord!  '  But  when  the  star  grew  dim,  he  said:  'I 
love  not  those  that  grow  dim.'  And  when  the  moon  rose 
radiantly  in  the  firmament,  he  cried  out  in  exceeding 
gladness  :  '  This  is  my  Lord  !  '  But  when  it  set,  he  said  : 
'Alas,  I  shall  surely  be  one  of  the  people  that  must  needs 
err.'  But  when  the  sun  rose  dazzlingly  in  the  morning, 
he  said:  'This  is  my  Lord,  this  is  the  greatest  of  all!  ' 
But  when  the  sun  set,  then  he  said:  'O,  my  people, 
verily  I  am  rid  of  your  idolatry  of  many  gods,  and  I  lift 
up  my  countenance  to  him  alone  that  created  the  heavens 
and  the  earth.'  " 

That  ancient  Semitic  word  for  God,  so  well  known 
to  us  from  the  sentence,  Eli  Eli  lama  azabtani^  is  El^ 
and  its  meaning  is  the  goal ;  the  goal  toward  which  are 
directed  the  eyes  of  all  men  that  look  Heavenward  only, 
"which  every  man  sees,  which  every  man  beholds  from 
afar"  (Job  xxxvi.  25)  ;  the  goal  to  which  man  stretches 


BABEIv  AND  BIBLE. 


61 


forth  liis  hands,  for  which  the  human  heart  longs  as  its 
release  from  the  uncertainties  and  imperfections  of  this 
earthly  life, — this  goal  the  ancient  Semitic  nomads  called 
El^  or  God.  And  inasmuch  as  there  can  in  the  nature  of 
things  be  only  one  goal,  we  find  among  the  old  Canaanite 
races  which  settled  in  Babylonia  as  early  as  2500  years 
before  Christ,  and  to  whom  Hammurabi  himself  be- 
longed, such  beautiful  proper  names  as  "God  hath 
given,"  "God  be  with  thee,"  "With  the  help  of  my  God 
I  go  my  way,"  etc. 


Fig.  56.     Clay  Tablets  Containing  the  Words  "  Yahveh  is  God." 
(Time  of  Hammurabi  or  Amraphel.     British  Museum.) 


But  more !  Through  the  kindness  of  the  director  of 
the  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  department  of  the  British 
Museum  I  am  able  to  show  you  here  pictures  of  three 
little  clay  tablets  (Fig.  56).  What,  will  be  asked,  is  to 
be  seen  on  these  tablets,  fragile  broken  pieces  of  clay, 
with  scarcely  legible  characters  scratched  on  their  sur- 
face? True  enough,  but  they  are  valuable  from  the  fact 
that  their  date  may  be  exactly  fixed  as  that  of  the  time  of 
Hammurabi,  one  of  them  having  been  made  during  the 
reign  of  his  father,  Sin-muballit ;  but  still  more  so  from 


62  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

the  circumstance  that  they  contain  three  names  which 
are  of  the  very  greatest  significance  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  historj^  of  religion.     They   are  the  words : 

^  ^  ^  »f 
la-    ah-     ve-      ibi 

la-  hu-  inn-  ilu 
Yahveh  is  God.  Yahveh,  the  Abiding  One,  the  Perma- 
nent One  (for  such  is,  as  we  have  reason  to  believe,  the 
significance  of  the  name) ,  who,  unlike  man,  is  not  to- 
morrow a  thing  of  the  past,  but  one  that  endures  forever, 
that  lives  and  labors  for  all  eternity  above  the  broad,  re- 
splendent, law-bound  canopy  of  the  stars, — it  was  this 
Yahveh  that  constituted  the  primordial  patrimony  of 
those  Canaanite  tribes  from  which  centuries  afterward 
the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel  sprang. 

The  religion  of  the  Canaanite  tribes  that  emigrated 
to  Babylonia  rapidly  succumbed,  indeed,  before  the  poly- 
theism that  had  been  practised  for  centuries  by  the  an- 
cient inhabitants  of  that  country.  But  this  polytheism 
by  no  means  strikes  an  unsympathetic  chord  in  us,  at 
least  so  far  as  its  conception  of  its  gods  is  concerned,  all 
of  whom  were  living,  omnipotent,  and  omnipresent  be- 
ings that  hearkened  unto  the  prayers  of  men,  and  who, 
however  much  incensed  the^-  might  become  at  the  sins  of 
men,  were  always  immediately  ready  again  with  offers  of 
mercy  and  reconciliation.  And  likewise  the  representa- 
tions which  these  deities  found  in  Babylonian  art,  as  for 
instance  that  of  the  sun-god  of  Sippar  enthroned  in  his 
Holy  of  Holies  (Fig.  57)'  are  far  removed  from  every- 

'  See  also  Fig.  31. 


Fig    57.     The  Sun-God  of  Sippar  Enthroned  in  His  Holy  of  Holies. 
(Lenormant,  V.,  p.  301.) 


64 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


thing  that  savors  of  the  ugly,  the  ignoble,  or  the  gro- 
tesque. The  Prophet  Ezekiel  (chap,  i.)  in  his  visions  of 
his  Lord  saw  God  enter  on  a  living  chariot  formed  of  four 
winged  creatures  with  the  face  of  a  man,  a  lion,  an  ox, 
and  an  eagle,  and  on  the  heads  of  these  cherubim  he  saw 
(x.  1)  a  crystal  surface  supporting  a  sapphire  throne  on 
which  God  was  seated  in  the  likeness  of  a  man,  bathed  in 
the  most  resplendent  radiance.     Noting  carefully  these 


Fig.  58.     Babylonian  Cylinder-Seal  with  Representation 
Resembling  the  Vision  of  Ezekiel. 


details,  can  we  fail  to  observe  the  striking  resemblance 
which  his  vision  presents  to  the  representation  of  a  god 
which  has  been  found  on  a  very  ancient  Babylonian  cjd- 
inder-seal  (Fig.  58)  ?  Standing  on  an  odd  sort  of  vessel, 
the  prow  and  stem  of  which  terminate  in  seated  human 
figures,  may  be  seen  two  cherubim  with  their  backs  to 
each  other  and  with  their  fac^s,  which  are  human  in  form, 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  65 

turned  to  tlie  front.  Their  attitude  leads  us  to  infer  that 
there  are  two  corresponding  figures  at  the  rear.  On  their 
backs  reposes  a  surface,  and  on  this  surface  stands  a 
throne  on  which  the  god  sits,  bearded  and  clothed  in  long 
robes,  with  a  tiara  on  his  head,  and  in  his  right  hand 
what  are  apparently  a  scepter  and  a  ring :  and  behind  the 
throne,  standing  ready  to  answer  his  beck  and  call,  is  a 
servitor  of  the  god,  who  may  be  likened  to  the  man 
"clothed  with  linen"  (Ezekiel  ix.  3,  and  x.  2)  that  exe- 
cuted the  behests  of  Yahveh. 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  however,  and  despite  the 
fact  that  many  liberal  and  enlightened  minds  openly  ad- 
vocated the  doctrine  that  Nergal  and  Nebo,  that  the 
moon-god  and  the  sun-god,  the  god  of  thunder  Ramman, 
and  all  the  rest  of  the  Babylonian  Pantheon  w^ere  one  in 
Marduk,  the  god  of  light,  still  polytheism,  gross  poly- 
theism, remained  for  tJirce  thousand  years  the  Babylonian 
state  religion, — a  sad  and  significant  warning  against  the 
indolence  of  men  and  races  in  matters  of  religion,  and 
against  the  colossal  power  which  may  be  acquired  by  a 
strongly  organised  priesthood  based  upon  it. 

Even  the  religion  of  Yahveh,  under  the  magic  stand- 
ard of  which  Moses  united  into  a  single  nation  the  twelve 
nomadic  tribes  of  Israel,  remained  infected  for  centuries 
with  all  manner  of  human  infirmities, — with  all  the  un- 
sophisticated anthropomorphic  conceptions  that  are  char- 
acteristic of  the  childhood  of  the  human  race,  with  Israel- 
itic  particularism,  with  heathen  sacrificial  customs,  and 
with  the  cult  of  legal  externalities.  Even  its  intrinsic 
worth  was  impotent  to  restrain  the  nation  from  worship- 
ping the  Baal  and  the  Astarte  of  the  indigenous  Canaan- 


66  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

ite  race,  until  those  titanic  minds,  the  prophets,  discov- 
ered in  Yahveh  the  god  of  the  universe,  and  pleaded  for 
a  quickening  of  the  inner  spirit  of  religion  with  exhorta- 
tions like  that  of  Joel,  "  to  rend  their  hearts  and  not  their 
garments,"  and  until  the  divinely  endowed  singers  of  the 
Psalms  expressed  the  concepts  of  the  prophetic  leaders  in 
verses  which  awaken  to  this  day  a  living  echo  in  the 
hearts  of  all  nations  and  times, — until,  in  fine,  the  proph- 
ets and  the  psalmists  paved  the  way  for  the  adhortation 
of  Jesus  to  pray  to  God  in  spirit  and  truth  and  to  strive 
by  dint  of  individual  moral  endeavor  in  all  spheres  of  life 
after  higher  and  higher  perfection, — after  that  perfection 
which  is  our  Father's  in  Heaven. 


SECOND   LECTURE 


IN  EXPLANATION. 

WHO  is  this  that  cometh  from  Edom,  with  dyed  garments  from  Bozrah  ? 
This  that  is  glorious  in   his  apparel,   marching  in  the  greatness  of  his 

strength  ? 
"It  is  I  (Yahveh)  that  speak  in  righteousness,  mighty  to  save." 
Wherefore  art  thou  red  in  thine  apparel,  and  thy  garments  like  him  that  treadeth 

in  the  vvinefat  ? 
"I   have  trodden   the   winepress  alone;    and  of  the  peoples  there  was  no  man 

with  me  : 
Yea,  I  trod  them  in  mine  anger,  and  trampled  them  in  my  fury  ; 
And  their  lifeblood  is  sprinkled  upon   my  garments,  and  I  have  stained  all  my 

raiment. 
For  the  day  of  vengeance  was  in  mine  heart,  and  the  year  of  my  redemption  was 

come. 
And  I  looked,  and  there  was  none  to  help  ;  and  I  wondered   that  there  was  none  to 

uphold  : 
Therefore  mine  own  arm  brought  salvation  unto  me,  and  my  fury,  it  upheld  me. 
And  I  trod  down  the  peoples  in  anger,  and  made  them  drunk  with  my  fury, 
And  I  poured  out  their  lifeblood  on  the  earth. 

In  language,  style,  and  sentiment,  forsooth  a  genuine  Bedouin 
song  of  battle  and  victory  !  Not  at  all  !  This  utterance  of  Isaiah 
Ixiii.  1-6,  and  a  hundred  other  prophetic  utterances  full  of  inex- 
tinguishable hatred  toward  the  races  round  about :  toward  Edom 
and  Moab,  Asohu  and  Babel,  Tyre  and  Egypt,  mostly  masterpieces 
of  Hebrew  rhetoric,  are  to  be  accepted  as  representing  the  ethical 
prophetism  of  Israel,  and  this  at  its  high  tide  !  These  outpourings 
of  political  jealousy  and  of  passionate  hatred  on  the  part  of  long 
vanished  generations,  born  of  certain  contemporary  conditions  and 
perhaps  comprehensible  from  a  merely  human  standpoint,  must 
serve  us  children  of   the  twentieth  century  after  Christ,  must  serve 


70  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

even  Occidental  and  Christian  races,  as  a  religious  guide  for  refine- 
ment and  edification!  Instead  of  losing  ourselves  "in  grateful 
admiration "  in  the  contemplation  of  God's  manifestation  in  our 
own  people,  from  primitive  Germanic  times  down  to  the  present 
day,  we  continue,  from  ignorance,  indifference  or  blindness,  to 
concede  to  those  early  Israelitic  oracles  the  character  of  a  "revela- 
tion," which  cannot  be  justified  either  in  the  light  of  science  or  in 
that  of  religion  or  of  ethics. 

The  more  deeply  I  dive  into  the  spirit  of  the  prophetic  writ- 
ings of  the  Old  Testament,  the  more  I  shrink  from  Yahveh,  who 
slaughters  the  nations  with  the  insatiable  sword  of  his  wrath,  who 
has  but  one  favorite  child,  and  surrenders  all  other  nations  to  night 
and  shame  and  destruction,  who  said  even  to  Abraham  (Genesis 
xii.  2):  "I  will  bless  them  who  bless  thee,  and  those  who  curse 
thee,  them  will  I  curse" — and  I  seek  refuge  with  him  who  taught 
in  life  and  in  death  :  "Bless  them  that  curse  you,"  and  I  hide,  full 
of  trust  and  joy  and  earnest  longing  for  moral  perfection,  in  the 
God  to  whom  Jesus  taught  us  to  pray,  the  God  who  is  a  loving  and 
just  father  to  all  men  on  earth. 

Charlotteneurg,  May  i,  1903. 


SECOND  I.ECTURE. 

WHY  this  opposition  to  "Babel  and  Bible"  when 
logic  itself  compels  this  sequence  of  the  words? 
And  how  can  anyone  expect  to  be  able  to  suppress  these 
serious  questions,  which  involve  the  entire  Bible  with  the 
catchword  "Primitive  Revelation,"  when  this  is  shown 
to  be  false  by  a  single  forgotten  verse  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment? And  does  in  fact  "the  ethical  monotheism  of  Is- 
rael" in  its  function  as  "  a  real  revelation  of  the  living 
God,"  constitute  the  unassailable  bulwark  in  the  conflict 
of  opinions  which  Babel  has  aroused  in  these  later  days? 

It  is  a  pity  that  so  many  people  permit  their  delight 
in  the  great  advantage  which  Babel  is  constantly  offering 
us  as  "  interpreter  and  illustrator"  of  the  Bible  to  be 
spoiled  by  a  narrow  regard  for  dogmatic  questions  to  such 
a  degree  that  they  even  entirely  ignore  that  advantage. 
And  yet,  how  grateful  all  readers  of  and  commentators 
on  the  Bible  must  needs  be  for  the  new  knowledge  which 
has  been  revealed,  and  is  constantly  being  revealed,  to  us 
by  the  laborious  excavations  among  the  ruins  of  Babylon 
and  Assyria ! 

On  principle  I  too  avoid  continually  speaking  of 
"confirmations"  of  the  Bible.  For  indeed  the  Old  Tes- 
tament as  a  source  of  ancient  history  would  be  in  a  bad 


12 


BABEIv  AND  BIBLE. 


case  if  it  required  everywhere  confirmatiou  by  cuneiform 
inscriptions.     But  when  the  Biblical  Books  of  Kings  (2 


^.^'IciliSc^ 


m  w^:^^*:'^r^^:^: 


22^ 


F'g-  59-     The  Ruins  at  Tell  Ibrahim,  Site  of  the  City  of  Kutha. 

Kings  xvii.  30)  states  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  of 
Kutha  who  settled  in  Samaria  worshipped  the  god  Nergal, 


Fig.  6o.     Nergal,  the  1\\tron  God  of  Kutha. 

and  we  now  know,  not  alone  that  this  Babylonian  city  of 
Kutha  (Fig.  59)  lies  buried  under  the  ruins  at  Tell  Ibra- 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


73 


him,  twenty-one  miles  northeast  of  Babylon,  but  also  that 
a  cuneiform  inscription  expressly  informs  us  that  the 
patron  god  of  Kutha  was  called  Nergal  (Fig.  60) , — this 
is  really  valuable  information. 

While  there  seemed  to  be  no  prospect  of  ever  dis- 
covering the  town  and  district  of  Chalach,  to  which  a 
portion  of  the   Israelites   taken  captive  by  Sargon  were 


.-!^\1X'-i>r- 


'/^ 


Fig.6i.  Black  Obelisk 
OF  Shalmaneser  n. 


Fig.  62.  Assyrian  Letter. 

Written  from  Chalach,  the  Babylonian  home  of 

the  exiled  Israelites. 


transplanted  (2  Kings  xvii.  6 ;  xviii.  11),  we  now  pos- 
sess, from  the  library  of  Asurbanipal  at  Nineveh,  a  letter 
written  from  Chalach  (Fig.  62) ,  in  which  a  certain  Mar- 
duk-nadin-achi,  laying  emphasis  upon  his  steadily  mani- 
fested lo^^alty,  petitions  the  king  to  help  him  regain  his 
estate,  which  had  been  given  him  by  the  king's  father, 
and  which  had  supported  him  for  fourteen  3^ears  until  at 


V^t«4?TlT 


n^Hf  ^ 


f^  ^T#y^'  7  ^^^-wW^i¥^^^x^>^T^  T^ 


Fig.  63. 


'>ijfr^  ^^^^^-i 


f  ' 


»    ' 


Fig.  64. 


>^1T4M/I^^>r^<t^>0  r>w^  ^  ►•^^  ^TT^^TrTI^ 


Fie;    65. 


^  "^  M.^:^^UU^^-^  '^<^.LM 


phk-  ^^^^^>^^^f^>f^)::^  \>^   ^       ^ 


!4R5«H<THTi<^TF)^  W  H"^,<^T(«  ^  ^   ^ 


^• 


r.>!i^f-<  >^T^'*V*^„  fe«^^,>^. 


Fig.  66. 


78 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


last  the  governor  of  the  land  of  Mashalzi  had  taken  it 
from  him. 

As  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  northern  kingdom  of 
Israel,  who  are  presented  to  oui  eyes  so  vividly  by  the 
famous  black  obelisk  of  Shalmaneser  II.  (Fig.  61)  in  its 
second  row  of  relief  figures  (Figs.  63-66) — they  are  the 
ambassadors  of  King  Jehu  (840  B.  C.)  with  gifts  of  vari- 
ous sorts, — we  now  know  all  three 
of  the  localities  where  the  ten  tribes 
found  their  grave:  Chalach,  some- 
what farther  east  than  the  moun- 
tainous source  of  the  upper  Zab, 
called  Arrapachitis ;  the  province 
of  Goshen  along  the  Chabor  prob- 
ably not  far  from  Nisibis ;  and 
thirdly,  the  villages  of  Media. 

Until  recent  times  the  con- 
quest and  plundering  of  Egyptian 
Thebes  mentioned  by  the  prophet 
Nahum  (iii.  8  ff.)  has  been  a 
puzzle,  so  that  no  one  knew  to 
what  the  words  of  the  prophet  re- 
ferred : 

"Art  thou  (Nineveh)  better 
than  No-amon  (i.  e.,  Thebes),  that  is  situate  in  the 
waters  of  the  Nile,  with  waters  round  about  her.  .  .? 
Yet  was  she  carried  away,  she  went  into  captivity;  her 
young  children  were  dashed  in  pieces  at  the  top  of  all 
the  streets,  and  they  cast  lots  for  her  honorable  men,  and 
all  her  great  men  were  bound  in  chains." 

But  then  there  was  discovered  at  Nineveh  the  mag- 


Fig.  67.     Assurbanipal's  Ten 
Sided  Clay  Prism. 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


79 


iiificent  ten-sided  clay  prism  of  Asurbanipal  (Fig.  67) , 
whicli  reports  in  its  second  column  that  it  was  Asurbani- 
pal who,  pursuing  the  Egyptian  king  Urdamane  from 
Memphis,  reached  Thebes,  conquered  it  and  carried  away 
silver,  gold,  and  precious  stones,  the  entire  treasure  of 
the  palace,  the  inhabitants,  male  and  female,  a  great  and 
immeasurable  booty,  from  Thebes  to  Nineveh  the  city 
of  his  dominion. 

And  how  much  the  language  of  the  Old  Testament 


Fig.  68.   Antelope  Leukoryx. 

is  indebted  to  the  cuneiform  literature !  The  Old  Testa- 
ment mentions  repeatedly  an  animal  called  re'em,  a  fierce, 
untamable  animal  armed  with  fearful  horns  (Psalms  xxii. 
22)  and  most  nearly  related  to  the  ox  (Deuteronomy 
xxxiii.  17;  Psalms  xxix.  6;  comp.  Isaiah  xxxiv.  7),  to 
use  which  in  field  labor  on  the  plain  like  a  common  ox 
seems  to  the  poet  of  the  Book  of  Job  (xxxix.  9  ff.)  a  ter- 
rible, an  inconceivable  thought:  "Will  the  wild  ox  be 
content  to  serve  thee,  or  will  he  abide  by  th}^  crib?   Canst 


80 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


tiiou  bind  the  wild  ox  with  his  guiding-band  in  thy  fur- 
row?    Or  will  he  harrow  the  valleys  after  thee?  " 

Despite  the  fact  that  the  buffalo  now  roams  in  herds 
the  forests  beyond  the  Jordan,  it  w^as  nevertheless  diffused 
over  Asia  Minor  from  Arachosia  onl^^  a  short  time  before 
the  beginning  of  our  era  ;  hence  it  had  become  customary 
as  a  result  of  comparison  with  Arabian  usage,  which 
styles  the  antelopes  "cattle  of  the  desert"  and  applies 
the  name  I'l^'m,  to  anlilopc  Icukojyx  (Fig.  68) ,  to  under- 


Fig.  6g.   The  Re'em,'  or  Wild  Bull. 
(After  a  bas-relief  in  the  palace  of  Sennacherib.) 

stand  under  the  Hebrew  re'em  this  species  of  antelope. 
But  as  this  antelope,  despite  its  long,  sharp  horns,  is  a 
slender-limbed  and  soft-eyed  creature,  it  was  be3'ond  com- 
prehension liow^  it  should  occur  to  a  poet  to  imagine  it 
hitched  to  a  plow  and  then  to  shudder  at  the  thought. 

The  cuneiform  inscriptions  have  informed  us  what 
the  remit  is:  it  is  the  powerful,  fierce-eyed,  wild  ox  with 
stout  curved  horns,  an  animal  of  the  w^ood  and  the  moun- 
tain, which  scales  the  highest  summits,  an  animal  of  tre- 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


81 


mendous  physical  strength,  the  chase  for  which,  like  that 
for  the  lion,  was  especially  popular  with  the  Assyrian 
kings  on  account  of  its  hazardousness.     The  presence  of 


Fig.  70.   Hunting  the  Re'em. 


this  animal,  which  is  most  closely  related  to  the  bos  urus 
of  Csesar  (Bell.  Gall.  VI.  28)  and  to  the  wiseiit   (bison) 


Fig.  71.  The  Hill  of  Babil. 

of  Middle-High-German  literature,  is  scientifically  estab- 
lished for  the  region  of  Alt.  Lebanon :  the  cuneiform  in- 
scriptions mention  the  re'em  countless  times,  and  the 
alabaster  reliefs  of  the  Ass3-rian  royal  palace  present  it 
very  clearly  to  our  eyes.      (Fig.  69.) 


!(  I 


■-Bmu 

4    ssW ! :  ,  ,  ,:■■ 


CL, 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


83 


King  Nebuchadnezzar  reports  that  he  adorned  the 
city  gate  of  Babylon  which  is  dedicated  to  the  goddess 
Istar  with  burned  bricks  upon  which  were  represented 
renins  and  gigantic  serpents  standing  upright.  The  re- 
discovery of  this  Istar  Gate  and  its  excavation  to  a  depth 
of  fourteen  meters,  where  the  underflow  begins,  consti- 
tutes one  of  the  most  valuable  achievements  of  recent 
years  in  our  exploration  of  the  ruins  of  Babylon. 

Hail  to  thee,  thou  hill  of  Babil  (Fig.  71) ,  and  to  all 
thy  fellows  on  the  palm-bordered  banks  of  the  Euphrates ! 


Fig.  73.  The  Wild  Bull  (Re'em)  on  the  Istar  Gate. 
Brick  mosaic  in  enameled  colors. 

(Fig.  72.)  How  the  heartbeats  quicken  when,  after 
weeks  of  picking  and  shoveling  under  the  glowing  sun- 
beams of  the  East,  suddenly  the  structure  that  has  been 
sought  is  revealed,  when  upon  a  giant  block  of  stone  cov- 
ered with  characters  the  name  "Istar  Gate"  is  read,  and 
gradually  the  great  double  gate  of  Babylon,  flanked 
northward  on  each  side  by  three  mighty  towers,  rises  in 
a  splendid  state  of  preservation  from  the  bowels  of  the 


84  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

earth!  And  wherever  3^011  may  look,  on  the  surfaces  of 
the  towers  as  well  as  upon  the  inner  walls  of  the  gate- 
way, droves  of  remus  carved  in  relief,  the  uppermost  row 
in  brilliant  contemporary  enamel,  standing  forth  in  fasci- 
nating splendor  of  colors  against  the  deep  blue  back- 
ground.     (Fig.  7?>.) 

"Vigorously  strides  the  wild  ox  with  long  paces, 
with  proudly  curved  neck,  with  horns  pointed  threaten- 
ingly forward,  ears  laid  back,   and  inflated  nostrils;  his 


Fig.  74.    The  Lion  of  Babylon. 
Brick  mosaic  in  enameled  colors. 

muscles  are  tense  and  swelling,  his  tail  raised  and  yet 
falling  stiffly  downwards, — all  as  in  Nature,  but  ideal- 
ised."' Where  the  smooth  hide  is  white,  horns  and  hoofs 
shine  like  gold ;  where  the  hide  is  yellow,  these  are  of 
malachite  green,  while  in  both  kinds  the  long  hair  is  col- 
ored dark  blue.  But  a  truly  imposing  effect  is  produced 
by  a  white  ox  in  relief,  in  which  the  long  hair,  as  well  as 
the  horns  and  hoofs,  is  tinted  a  delicate   green.     Thus 

'  From  a  treatise  on  these  relief  figures  by  Walter  Andrae. 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  85 

the  re 'em  of  the  Istar  Gate  through  which  led  the  tri- 
umphal highway  of  Marduk  proves  to  be  a  worthy  com- 
panion for  the  widely  known  "lion  of  Babylon"  which 
adorned  the  triumphal  highway  itself.      (Fig.  74.) 

And  Biblical  science  is  enriched  by  still  another  ani- 
mal of  the  strangest  sort,  a  fabulous  animal,  familiar  to 
us  from  the  days  of  our  youthful  religious  instruction, 
and  which  could  not  fail  to  make  a  fascinating  impression 
upon  all  who  passed  through  the  Istar  Gate  toward  the 


Fig.  75.  The  Dragon  of  Babel. 
Enameled  brick  mosaic. 

palace  of  Nebuchadnezzar, — I  refer  to  the  Dragon  of  Ba- 
bel. (Fig.  75.)  "With  neck  stretched  far  forward  and 
looks  darting  poison  the  monster  marches  along," — it  is 
a  serpent,  as  is  shown  by  the  elongated  head  with  its 
forked  tongue,  the  long,  scale-covered  trunk  and  the 
wriggling  tail,  but  at  the  same  time  it  has  the  fore-legs 
of  the  panther  while  its  hind-legs  are  armed  with  mon- 
strous talons ;  in  addition  to  all  this  it  has  on  its  head 
long,  straight  horns  and  a  scorpion's  sting  in  the  end  of 


86  ^  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

its  tail.  Thanks  are  due  to  all  whose  faithful  labor  con- 
tributes to  secure  such  choice  and  exceedingly  important 
archaeological  treasures ! 

Quite  apart  from  many  such  individual  interpreta- 
tions and  illustrations,  Assyriology  is  restoring  confi- 
dence in  the  authenticity  of  the  text  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, which  has  for  some  time  been  so  violently  assailed. 
For,  finding  itself  constantly  face  to  face  with  more  and 
more  difficult  texts  full  of  rare  words  and  phrases,  it  real- 
ises that  there  are  also  in  the  Old  Testament  scriptures 
great  numbers  of  rare  and  even  unique  words  and  phrases  ; 
it  takes  delight  in  these,  attempts  to  interpret  them  from 
their  context,  and  in  not  a  few  cases  finds  its  efforts  re- 
warded by  the  presence  of  these  very  same  words  and 
phrases  in  Assyrian.  In  this  manner  it  recognises  what 
a  fatal  error  it  is  on  the  part  of  modern  exegesis  to  make 
conjectural  interpretations  of  such  rare  words  and  diffi- 
cult phrases,  to  "emend"  them,  and  only  too  frequently 
to  replace  them  with  meaningless  substitutes.  In  truth 
every  friend  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  should  as- 
sist with  all  his  might  in  bringing  to  light  the  thousands 
of  clay  tablets  and  all  other  sorts  of  written  monuments 
that  lie  buried  in  Babylon,  and  which  our  expedition  will 
bring  to  light  as  soon  as  the  first  objects  set  before  it  are 
accomplished,  thereby  making  possible  for  the  textual 
interpretation  of  the  Old  Testament  more  rapid  and  more 
important  progress  than  it  has  experienced  within  the 
two  thousand  years  preceding. 

Indeed,  entire  narratives  of  the  Old  Testament  re- 
ceive their  interpretation  from  Babylon.  In  our  early 
youth  we  inherit  the  burden  of  the  foolish  notion  of  a 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  87 

Nebuchadnezzar  who  was  turned  into  a  beast ;  for  the 
Book  of  Daniel  tells  us  (iv.  26-34)  how  the  King  of 
Babylon  walked  upon  the  roof  of  his  palace,  and  after 
feasting  his  eyes  once  more  on  the  splendor  of  the  city 
he  had  built,  received  from  heaven  the  prophecy  that  he 
should  live,  an  exile  from  among  men,  with  the  beasts  of 
the  field  and  after  the  fashion  of  the  beasts.  Thereupon, 
according  to  account,  Nebuchadnezzar  ate  grass  in  the 
wilderness  like  unto  an  ox,  wet  by  the  dew  of  heaven, 
while  his  hair  grew  like  unto  the  feathers  of  the  eagle  and 
his  finger-nails  like  unto  birds'  claws. 

Yet  no  educator  of  youth  should  ever  have  ventured 
to  teach  such  things,  and  especially  not  after  the  appear- 
ance of  Eberhard  Schrader's  treatise  on  The  Insanity  of 
Nebuchadnezzar ^  without  at  the  same  time  pointing  out 
the  fact  that  the  purer  and  more  primitive  form  of  this 
story  has  long  been  known  in  a  Chkldasan  legend  trans- 
mitted to  us  in  Abydenus.  This  tells  us  that  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, after  reaching  the  zenith  of  his  power,  went  out 
upon  the  roof  of  his  palace,  inspired  by  a  god,  he  ex- 
claimed' "I  here,  Nabuchodrosor,  announce  to  you  the 
coming  of  the  calamity  which  neither  Bel  nor  Queen 
Beltis  can  persuade  the  Fates  to  avert.  Perses  (that  is, 
Cyrus)  will  come  .  .  .  and  bring  servitude  upon  you.  O 
would  that  he,  before  my  fellow-citizens  perish,  might  be 
driven  through  the  desert,  where  neither  cities  nor  the 
track  of  men  can  be  found,  but  where  wild  beasts  graze 
and  birds  fly  about,  while  he  wanders  about  solitary  in 
caves  and  gorges.     But  may  a  better  lot  .  .  .  befall  me." 

Who  could  fail  to  perceive  in  this  that  the  Hebrew 
writer  has  made  a  free  version  of  the  Babylonian  legend, 


88  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

especially  since  lie  lets  us  see  plainly  in  verse  16  that  the 
very  wording  of  the  original  was  quite  familiar  to  him ! 
What  Nebuchadnezzar  wishes  for  the  enemy  of  the  Chal- 
daeans,  this  the  author  of  the  pamphlets  full  of  errors  and 
carelessness  which  are  combined  to  make  the  Book  of 
Daniel,  has  Nebuchadnezzar  suffer  himself,  in  order  to 
exemplify  as  drastically  as  possible  to  his  countrymen, 
who  were  being  persecuted  by  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  the 
truth  that  God  the  Lord  is  able  to  humble  deeply  even 
the  mightiest  king  who  rebels  against  Yahveh. 

When  shall  we  finally  learn  to  distinguish  the  form 
from  the  content  even  within  the  covers  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament ? 

The  author  of  the  Book  of  Jonah  preaches  to  us  two 
lofty  doctrines :  that  no  one  can  escape  from  God,  and 
that  no  mortal  dare  presume  to  dictate  terms  to  God's 
mercy  and  patience,  or  even  toset  limits  for  them.  But 
the  form  in  which  these  truths  are  clothed  is  human,  is 
fancifully  Oriental,  and  if  we  should  continue  to  believe 
to-day  that  Jonah  while  in  the  whale's  belly  prayed  a 
conglomeration  of  passages  from  the  Psalms,  part  of  which 
were  not  composed  until  several  centuries  after  the  de- 
struction of  Nineveh,  or  that  the  King  of  Nineveh  did 
such  deep  penance  that  he  gave  commands  even  to  oxen 
and  sheep  to  put  on  sackcloth,  we  should  be  sinning 
against  the  reason  bestowed  upon  us  by  God. 

But  all  these  are  details  which  sink  into  insignifi- 
cance under  an  intenser  light. 

It  was  an  exceedingly  happy  thought  which  struck 
the  representatives  of  the  various  German  ecclesiastical 
bodies  who  went  to  Jerusalem  as  guests  of  the  German 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  89 

Emperor  to  take  part  in  tlie  dedication  of  the  Churcli  of 
Our  Saviour,  that  of  founding  in  Jerusalem  a  "German 
Kvangelical  Institute  for  the  Archaeology  of  the  Holy 
Land."  O  would  that  our  young  theologians  might  go 
thither,  and  not  merely  in  the  cities,  but  better  still  out 
in  the  desert,  familiarise  themselves  with  the  manners 
and  customs  of  the  Bedouins,  which  are  still  so  com- 
pletely the  same  as  in  the  times  of  Ancient  Israel,  and 
plunge  deeply  into  the  Oriental  mode  of  thought  and  ex- 
pression :  might  listen  to  the  story-tellers  in  the  tents  of 
the  desert  or  hear  the  descriptions  and  accounts  of  the 
sons  of  the  desert  themselves,  full  of  fancy  that  bubbles 
up  vigorously  and  unhampered  and  only  too  often  ex- 
ceeds unconsciously  the  bounds  of  fact ! 

And  if  even  the  modern  Orient,  wherever  we  go  and 
listen  and  look,  furnishes  such  an  abundance  of  sugges- 
tions for  the  interpretation  of  the  Bible,  how  much  more 
will  this  be  the  case  with  the  study  of  the  ancient  litera- 
ture of  the  Babylonians  and  Ass3"rians  which  is  in  part 
contemporary  with  the  Old  Testament!  Everywhere 
there  are  more  or  less  important  agreements  between  the 
two  literatures  which  are  most  closely  related  in  language 
and  style,  in  mode  of  thought  and  expression. 

I  will  cite  here  the  sacredness  of  the  number  seven 
as  well  as  that  of  the  number  three,  for  which  we  have 
evidence  in  both  literatures  :  "Land,  land,  land,  hear  the 
word  of  the  Lord,"  exclaims  Jeremiah  (xxii.  29)  ;  "Hail, 
hail,  hail  to  the  king,  my  lord,"  more  than  one  Assyrian 
scribe  begins  his  letter.  And  as  the  seraphim  before  the 
throne  of  God  call  one  to  another:  "Holy,  holy,  holy  is 
Yahveh  Zebaoth"  (Isaiah  vi.  3),  so  we  read  at  the  be- 


90  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

ginning  of  tlie  Assyrian  temple  liturgy  a  threefold  asiir^ 
that  is,  "salutary,"  or  "holy." 

"God  created  man  out  of  the  dust  of  the  earth  and 
breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life,  and  man  be- 
came a  living  soul," — thus  runs  the  so-called  Yahvistic 
account  of  creation  (Genesis  ii.  7) .  The  very  same  con- 
ceptions are  found  among  the  Babylonians  :  man  is  formed 
of  earth  (mud,  clay) ,  as  for  instance  Eabani  is  created 
out  of  a  pinched  off  and  moisted  piece  of  clay  (compare 
Job  xxxiii.  6 :  "I  too  am  made  of  a  pinch  of  clay  ") ,  and 
for  that  reason  he  returns  again  thither  (so  Genesis  iii. 
19)  ;  but  he  becomes  a  living  being  through  the  breath 
of  God.  In  the  opening  of  a  letter  to  the  Assyrian  king 
the  writers  characterise  themselves  as  "dead  dogs"  (cf. 
2  Samuel  ix.  8) ,  whom  the  king,  their  master,  had  caused 
to  live  by  "putting  the  breath  of  life  into  their  nostrils." 

According  to  Babylonian  notions  the  spittle  of  human 
beings  possesses  in  a  marked  degree  magic  power.  Spittle 
and  spells  are  closely  related  conceptions,  and  spittle  has 
death-dealing  as  well  as  life-giving  power.  "O  ]\Iar- 
duk," — thus  runs  a  prayer  to  the  patron  deity  of  Babel, 
— ^"  O  Marduk !  thine  is  the  spittle  of  life  ! "  Who  is  not 
reminded  by  this  of  New  Testament  narratives  such  as 
that  of  Jesus  taking  the  deaf  and  dumb  man  aside,  put- 
ting his  fingers  in  his  ears,  spitting  and  touching  the 
man's  tongue  with  the  spittle,  sa3'ing,  "Hephata,"  "Be 
opened!"  (Mark  vii.  Zli  ff.,  and  compare  viii.  IZ^  John 
ix.  6  ff.) 

Yahveh  conducts  his  people  on  the  march  through 
the  desert  by  means  of  a  pillar  of  cloud  by  day  and  a  pil- 
lar of  fire  by  night  (comp.  also  Isaiah  iv.  5)  ;  but  P^sar- 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  91 

haddon,  King  of  Assoria,  before  setting  out  upon  a  cam- 
paign, also  receives  the  prophetic  message:  "I,  Istar  of 
Arbela,  will  cause  to  rise  upon  thy  right  hand  smoke  and 
upon  thy  left  fire." 

''Set  thine  house  in  order,"  says  the  prophet  Isaiah 
to  King  Hezekiah  when  he  is  sick  unto  death,  "for  thou 
art  sick  and  wilt  not  live"  (Isaiah  xxxviii.  1) ,  while  the 
Assyrian  general  Kudurru,  to  whom  the  king  has  sent 
his  own  personal  ph^^sician,  thanks  the  king  with  the 
words:  "I  was  dead,  but  the  king,  my  lord,  has  made 
me  to  live."  The  soul  of  a  man  sick  unto  death  is  con- 
ceived as  already  straying  in  the  underworld,  has  already 
gone  down  into  the  pit  (Psalms  xxx.  4) .  For  this  reason 
the  goddess  Gula,  the  patron  genius  of  phj'sicians,  has 
the  title  "Awakener  of  the  dead  "  :  an  Oriental  physician 
who  did  not  raise  people  from  the  dead  would  be  no  phy- 
sician at  all. 

How  great  the  similarity  between  all  things  in  Babel 
and  Bible !  Here  as  well  as  there  the  fondness  for  ren- 
dering speech  and  thought  vivid  by  symbolical  actions  (I 
cite  here  merely  the  scapegoat  which  is  chased  away  into 
the  desert)  ;  here  as  well  as  there  the  same  world  of  con- 
stant wonders  and  signs,  of  perpetual  revelations  of  the 
divinity,  particularly  through  dreams,  the  same  naive 
conceptions  of  the  divinity  !  As  in  Babel  the  gods  eat  and 
drink  and  even  retire  to  rest,  so  Yahveh  goes  walking  in 
Paradise  in  the  cool  of  the  evening,  or  takes  delight  in 
the  smell  of  Noah's  sacrifice.  And  just  as  in  the  Old 
Testament  Yahveh  speaks  to  Moses  and  Aaron  and  to  all 
the  prophets,   so  also  in  Babel  the  gods  speak  to  men. 


92  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

either  directl}^  or  tlirougli  the  mouth  of  their  priests  and 
divinely  inspired  prophets  and  prophetesses. 

Revelation !  For  a  long  time  all  scientifically  trained 
theologians,  whether  Evangelical  or  Catholic,  have  for 
centuries  been  firmly  convinced  that  it  was  a  grievous 
error  to  have  regarded  the  invaluable  remains  of  ancient 
Hebrew  scriptures  collected  into  the  Old  Testament  as 
constituting  collectively  a  religious  canon,  as  being  from 
beginning  to  end  a  revealed  book  of  religion.  For  among 
them  are  writings  such  as  the  Book  of  Job,  which  ques- 
tions the  very  existence  of  a  just  God,  and  in  language 
that  sometimes  borders  on  blasphemy,  and  other  very 
profane  compositions,  such,  for  example,  as  wedding 
songs  (the  so-called  Song  of  Solomon)  .  In  the  pretty 
love-song,  Ps.  45,  we  read,  v.  11  ff.  :  "Hear,  O  daughter, 
and  consider  and  incline  thine  ear :  forget  also  thine  own 
people  and  thy  father's  house;  and  if  the  king  vshall  de- 
sire thy  beauty — for  he  is  thy  lord — fall  down  before 
him . ' ' 

It  is  very  easy  to  imagine  what  the  results  must  be 
when  books  and  passages  like  these  were  forced  to  submit 
to  a  theological,  and  even  a  Messianic,  interpretation  (cf. 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  i.  8  f.) , — the  result  could  not 
fail  to  be  such  as  it  was  in  that  mediaeval  Catholic  monk 
who,  when  he  read  in  his  Psalter  the  Latin  viaria^  ''the 
seas,"  crossed  himself  as  in  the  presence  of  "Maria," 
meaning  Mary,  the  mother  of  Christ.  But  for  the  re- 
mainder of  the  Old  Testament  literature  also  the  doctrine 
of  verbal  inspiration  has  been  surrendered  even  by  the 
Catholic  Church.  The  Old  Testament  itself  has  com- 
pelled this  result,  with  its  mass  of  contradictory  duplicate 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  93 

accounts,  and  with  tlie  absolutely  inextricable  confusion 
which,  has  been  brought  about  in  the  Pentateuch  by  per- 
petual revision  and  combination. 

And  to  be  perfectly  serious  and  frank, — we  have  not 
deserved  such  an  immediate  and  personal  revelation  from 
the  divinity  anyway.  For  mankind  has  unto  this  day 
treated  with  absolute  flippancy  the  most  primitive  and 
genuine  revelation  of  the  holy  God,  the  ten  command- 
ments on  the  tables  of  the  law  from  Sinai.  Dr.  Martin 
Luther  said : 

"Das   Wort  sie  sol/en  lassen  s/ahn.''^ 
(Inviolate  the  Word  let  stand  !) 

and  yet  in  the  Smaller  Catechism,  from  which  our  chil- 
dren are  instructed,  the  entire  second  commandment  has 
been  suppressed,  the  same  upon  w^hich  God  laid  such 
especial  emphasis  (Exodus  xx.  22  f.)  :  "Thou  shalt  not 
make  unto  thyself  any  image  or  any  likeness,"  etc.,  and 
have  put  in  its  place  the  last  commandment,  or  rather 
prohibition  of  covetousness  (wicked  desire) ,  after  having 
torn  it  in  two,  which  might  easily  have  been  recognised 
as  unpermissible  by  comparing  Exodus  xx.  17  and  Deu- 
teronomy V.  18. 

The  command  to  honor  father  and  mother  is  not  the 
fourth  but  the  fifth,  and  so  on.  And  in  the  Catholic 
Catechism,  which  has  the  same  method  of  numbering  the 
commandments,  the  first  commandment  is,  indeed,  fuller : 
"Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  me;  thou  shalt 
not  make  unto  thyself  an3^  graven  image,  to  worship  it," 
but  immediately  after  we  read:  "Nevertheless,  we  make 
images  of  Christ,  of  the  mother  of  God  and  of  all  the 


94  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

saints,  because  we  do  not  worship  them,  but  onl}-  rev- 
erence them."  This  entirely  ignores  the  fact  that  God 
the  Lord  expressly  says :  ' '  Thou  shalt  not  make  unto 
thyself  any  graven  image  to  worship  and  to  reverence.' 
(Consider  also  Deuteronomy  iv.  16.) 

But  if  we  regard  the  matter  for  a  while  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  letter  of  the  Thora,  this  reproach  falls 
still  more  heavily  upon  Moses  himself,  a  shrill  and  unani- 
mous reproach  from  all  the  people  of  the  earth  who  ask 
after  God  if  haply  they  may  find  him.  Just  think  of 
it:  The  Almighty  God,  "the  All-container,  the  All-sus- 
tainer,"  the  inscrutable,  unapproachable,  proclaims  from 
the  midst  of  fire  and  cloud  and  to  the  accompaniment  of 
thunder  and  lightning  his  most  holy  will,  Yahveh,  "the 
rock  whose  work  is  perfect,"  with  his  own  hands  carves 
two  tablets  of  stone  and  engraves  upon  them  M'itli  his 
own  fingers,  those  fingers  that  keep  the  world  in  equilib- 
rium, the  Ten  Commandments, — and  then  Moses  in 
anger  hurls  away  the  eternal  tables  of  the  eternal  God 
and  breaks  them  into  a  thousand  pieces !  And  this  God 
a  second  time  writes  other  tables,  which  present  his  last 
autograph  revelation  to  mankind,  the  most  unique  and 
tangible  revelation  of  God, — and  Moses  does  not  consider 
it  worth  while  to  report  literally  to  his  people,  and  thus 
to  mankind,  what  God  had  engraved  upon  those  tables. 

We  scholars  regard  it  as  a  serious  reproach  to  one  of 
our  number  if,  in  dealing  with  an  inscription  by  any  one 
soever,  though  but  a  shepherd  who  may  have  perpetuated 
his  name  upon  some  rock  on  the  Sinaitic  peninsula,  he 
reports  it  inaccurately  or  incorrectly  in  even   a  single 

*R.  v.,  "serve." 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  95 

character;  whereas  Moses,  when  he  impresses  the  ten 
commandments  upon  his  people  once  more  before  cross- 
ing the  Jordan,  not  only  changes  individual  words,  trans- 
poses words  and  sentences,  but  even  substitutes  for  one 
long  passage  another  which,  however,  he  also  emphasises 
expressly  as  being  the  very  literal  word  of  God.  And 
accordingly  we  do  not  know  to  this  day  whether  God 
commanded  that  the  Sabbath  day  be  kept  holy  in  memory 
of  his  own  rest  after  finishing  the  six  days'  labor  of  crea- 
tion (Exodus  XX.  11 ;  comp.  xxxi.  17) ,  or  in  commem- 
oration of  the  incessant  forced  labor  of  his  people  during 
their  stay  in  Egypt  (Deuteronomy  v.  14  ff.) . 

The  same  carelessness  has  to  be  regretted  in  other 
points  that  concern  God's  most  sacred  bequest  to  men. 
To  this  day  we  are  hunting  for  the  peak  in  the  mountain- 
chain  of  the  Sinaitic  peninsula  which  corresponds  with 
all  that  is  told,  and  while  we  are  most  minutely  informed 
regarding  vastly  less  important  things,  such,  for  in- 
stance, as  the  rings  and  the  rods  of  the  box  which  con- 
tained the  two  tables,  M-e  learn  absolutely  nothing  about 
the  outward  character  of  the  tables  themselves,  except 
that  they  were  written  upon  both  sides. 

When  the  Philistines  capture  the  ark  of  the  covenant 
and  place  it  in  the  temple  of  Dagon  at  Aslidad,  they  find 
on  the  second  morning  following  the  image  of  the  god 
Dagon  lying  in  fragments  before  the  ark  of  Yahveh  (1 
Samuel  v.  f.) .  And  then  when  it  is  brought  to  the  little 
Jewish  border-town  of  Beth  Shemesh  and  the  inhabitants 
look  at  it,  seventy  of  them  pay  for  their  presumption  by 
death, — according  to  another  account  fifty  thousand  ( ! ) 
(1  Sam.  vi.  19) .     Even  one  who  touches  the   ark  from 


96  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

inadvertence  is  slain  by  the  wrath  of  Yahveh  (2  Sam. 
6-7  f.). 

But  as  soon  as  we  touch  the  soil  of  the  historical 
period,  history  is  silent.  We  are  told  in  detail  that  the 
Chaldseans  carried  away  the  treasures  of  the  temple  at 
Jerusalem  and  the  gold,  silver,  and  copper  furnishings  of 
the  temple,  the  fire  pans  and  basins  and  shovels  (2  Kings 
xxiv.  13  ;  XXV.  13  ff.) ,  but  no  one  is  concerned  about  the 
ark  with  the  two  God-given  tables  ;  the  temple  goes  down 
in  flame,  but  not  a  single  word  is  said  of  the  fate  of  the 
two  miracle-working  tables  of  the  Almighty  God,  the 
most  sacred  treasure  of  the  Old  Covenant. 

We  do  not  propose  to  ask  the  cause  of  all  this,  but 
only  to  record  the  fact  that  Moses  is  exonerated  by  the 
critical  study  of  the  Pentateuch  from  the  reproach  which 
belongs  to  him  according  to  the  strict  letter  of  the  Thora, 
For,  as  is  confirmed  by  many  and  among  them  Dillmann 
{Commoitajy  to  the  Books  of  Exodus  and  Leviticus^  p. 
201) ,  this  authority  so  highly  valued  even  on  the  Catholic 
side,  "We  have  the  ten  commandments  in  two  different 
revisions  neither  of  which  is  based  upon  the  tables  them- 
selves, but  upon  other  versions." 

And  similarly  all  the  other  so-called  Mosaic  laws 
are  transmitted  to  us  in  two  comparatively  late  revisions, 
separated  from  each  other  by  centuries,  whence  all  the 
differences  are  easily  enough  accounted  for.  And  we 
know  this  also,  that  the  so-called  Mosaic  laws  represent 
regulations  and  customs  part  of  which  had  been  recog- 
nised in  Israel  from  primitive  times,  and  part  of  which 
had  not  received  legal  recognition  until  after  the  settle- 
ment of  the  people  in  Canaan,  and  were  then  attributed 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  97 

bodily  to  Moses,  and  later,  for  tlie  sake  of  greater  sacred- 
ness  and  inviolability,  to  Yabveb  himself.  The  same 
process  we  see  in  connection  with  the  laws  of  other  races 
— I  will  mention  Here  the  law-book  of  Mann — and  it  is 
precisely  the  case  with  tlie  law-making  Babylon. 

In  my  first  lectnre  on  this  subject  I  pointed  out  the 
fact  that  we  find  in  Babylon  as  early  as  2250  B.  C.  a 
State  with  a  highly  developed  system  of  law,  and  I  spoke 
of  a  great  Code  of  Hammurabi  which  established  civil 
law  in  all  its  branches.  While  at  that  time  we  could 
only  infer  the  existence  of  this  Code  from  scattered  but 
perfectly  reliable  details, — the  original  of  this  great  Law 
Book  of  Hammurabi  has  now  been  found,  and  therewith 
a  treasure  of  the  very  first  rank  has  been  conferred  upon 
science  and  especially  upon  the  science  of  law  and  the 
history  of  civilisation.  It  was  in  the  ruins  of  the  acrop- 
olis of  Susa,  about  the  turn  of  the  year  1901-1902,  that 
the  French  archaeologist  de  Morgan  and  the  Dominican 
monk  Scheil  had  the  good  fortune  to  find  a  monument  of 
King  Hammurabi  in  the  shape  of  a  diorite  block  2.25 
meters  high.  It  had  apparently  been  carried  away  from 
Babylon  along  with  other  plunder  by  the  Elamites.  On 
it  had  been  engraved  in  the  most  careful  manner  282 
paragraphs  of  law  (Fig.  76) .  As  the  King  himself  says, 
they  are  "laws  of  justice  which  Hammurabi,  the  mighty 
and  just  King,  has  established  for  the  use  and  benefit  of 
the  weak  and  oppressed,  of  widows  and  orphans."  "Let 
the  wronged  person,"  thus  we  read,  "who  has  a  case  at 
law,  read  this  my  monumental  record  and  hear  my  pre- 
cious words  ;  my  monument  shall  explain  his  case  to  him 
and  he  may  look  forward  to  its  settlement !    With  a  heart 


98 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


full  of  gratitude  let  liim  then  say :    '  Hammurabi  is  a  lord 
who  is  like  a  real  father  to  his  people.'  "     But  although 


Fig.  76.  A  Portion  of  the  Inscription  of  the  Laws  of  Hammurabi. 

the  King  says  that  he,  the  sun  of  Babylon,  which  sheds 
the  light  over  North  and  South  in  his  land,  has  written 


BABEIy  AND  BIBLE. 


99 


down  these  laws,  nevertheless  he  in  his  turn  received 
them  from  the  highest  judge  of  heaven  and  earth,  the 


Fig.  77.   Hammurabi  Before  Shamash,  the  God  of  Law. 


Sun  god,  the  lord  of  all  that  is  called  "right,"  and  there- 
fore the  mighty  tablet  of  the  law  bears  at  its  head  the 


100  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

beautiful  bas-relief  (Fig.  77) ,  which  represents  Hammu- 
rabi in  the  act  of  receiving  the  laws  from  Shamash,  the 
supreme  law-giver. 

Thus  and  not  otherwise  was  it  with  the  giving  of  the 
Law  on  Sinai,  the  so-called  making  of  the  Covenant  be- 
tween Yahveh  and  Israel.  For  the  purely  human  origin 
and  character  of  the  Israelitic  laws  are  surely  evident 
enough !  Or  is  any  one  so  bold  as  to  maintain  that  the 
thrice  holy  God,  who  with  his  own  finger  engraved  upon 
the  stone  tablet  Id  tirzach  "thou  shalt  not  kill,"  in  the 
same  breath  sanctioned  blood-vengeance,  which  rests  like 
a  curse  upon  Oriental  peoples  to  this  day,  while  Hammu- 
rabi had  almost  obliterated  the  traces  of  it?  Or  is  it  pos- 
sible that  any  one  still  clings  to  the  notion  that  circum- 
cision, which  had  for  ages  before  been  customary  among 
the  Egyptians  and  the  Bedouin  Arabs,  was  the  mark  of 
an  especial  covenant  between  God  and  Israel? 

We  understand  very  well,  according  to  Oriental 
thought  and  speech,  that  the  numerous  regulations  for 
every  possible  petty  event  in  daily  life,  as  for  instance, 
the  case  of  a  fierce  ox  that  kills  a  man  or  another  ox 
(Exodus  xxi.  28  f.,  35  f.) ,  that  the  prohibitions  of  foods, 
the  minute  medicinal  prescriptions  for  skin  diseases,  the 
detailed  directions  regarding  the  priest's  wardrobe,  are 
represented  as  derived  from  Yahveh.  But  this  is  alto- 
gether outward  form ;  the  God  who  prefers  the  offerings 
of  *' a  broken  spirit,  a  broken  and  a  contrite  heart  (Ps. 
li.  17) ,  and  who  took  no  pleasure  in  the  worship  by  burnt 
offerings  after  the  fashion  of  the  ''heathen"  peoples,  cer- 
tainly did  not  ordain  this  worship  by  burnt  offerings  with 
its  minute  details,  nor  devise  the  recipes  for  ointment 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE-  101 

and  burnt  incense  ^'  after  the  art  of  the  perfumer,"  as  the 
expression  runs  (Exodus  xxx.  25,  35) . 

It  will  be  the  business  of  future  investigators  to  de- 
termine to  just  what  extent  the  Israelitic  laws  both  civil 
and  levitical  are  specifically  Israelitic,  or  general  Semitic, 
or  how  far  they  were  influenced  by  the  Babylonian  code 
which  is  so  much  older  and  which  had  certainly  extended 
beyond  the  borders  of  Babylon.  I  think,  for  instance,  of 
the  law  of  retribution,  an  eye  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth  for  a 
tooth,  of  the  feast  of  the  new  moon,  the  so-called  "shew 
bread,"  the  high  priest's  breast  plate,  and  man^^  other 
things.  For  the  present  we  must  be  thankful  that  the 
institution  of  the  Sabbath  day,  the  origin  of  which  was 
unclear  even  to  the  Hebrews  themselves,  is  now  recog- 
nised as  having  its  roots  in  the  Babylonian  Sabattu^ 
"the  day  par  excellence." 

On  the  other  hand,  no  one  has  maintained  that  the 
Ten  Commandments  were  borrowed  even  in  part  from 
Babylon,  but  on  the  contrary  it  has  been  pointed  out 
very  emphatically  that  prohibitions  like  the  Fifth,  Sixth, 
and  Seventh  spring  from  the  instinct  of  self-preservation 
which  is  common  to  all  men.  In  fact,  the  most  of  the 
Ten  Commandments  are  just  as  sacred  to  the  Babylo- 
nians as  to  the  Hebrews:  disrespect  for  parents,  false 
witness,  and  every  sort  of  covetousness  are  also  punished 
severely  in  Babylonian  law,  generally  with  death.  Thus, 
for  instance,  we  read  in  the  very  third  paragraph  of  Ham- 
murabi's code :  "  If  in  a  law  suit  any  one  on  the  witness- 
stand  utters  falsehoods  and  cannot  support  his  testimony, 
he  shall  himself  be  punished  with  death  if  the  life  of  an- 
other is  involved." 


102  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

The  Second  Commandment  is  specifically  Israelitic, 
the  prohibition  of  every  sort  of  image-worship,  which  in 
its  direct  application  seems  to  have  a  distinctly  anti- 
Babylonian  point. 

But  in  connection  with  the  eminently  Israelitic  First 
Commandment,  "I  am  Yahveh,  thy  God;  thou  shalt 
have  no  other  gods  beside  me,"  may  I  be  permitted  to 
treat  more  fully  one  point  which  deeply  and  permanently 
concerns  all  who  are  interested  in  Babel  and  Bible, — the 
monotheism  of  the  Old  Testament.  From  the  standpoint 
of  Old  Testament  theology  I  can  understand  how,  after 
it  has  unanimously  and  rightly  given  up  the  verbal  in- 
spiration of  the  ancient  Hebrew  scriptures  and  thus  rec- 
ognised, perhaps  unintentionally  but  quite  logically,  the 
wholly  unauthoritative  character  of  the  Old  Testament 
writings  as  such  for  our  belief,  our  knowledge  and  our 
investigations, — I  say  I  can  understand  how  theology 
now  claims  as  divine  the  spirit  that  pervades  them  and 
preaches  with  so  much  the  greater  unanimity  the  "ethi- 
cal monotheism  of  Israel,"  the  "spirit  of  prophecy"  as 
"  a  real  revelation  of  the  living  God." 

Great  consternation  seems  to  have  been  produced  by 
the  names  mentioned  in  my  first  lecture,  which  we  find 
in  surprisingly  great  numbers  among  the  North-Semitic 
nomads  who  immigrated  into  Babylon  about  2500  B.C.: 
"El  (i.  e.,  God)  hath  given,"  "God  sits  in  control," 
"If  God  were  not  my  God,"  "  God,  consider  me,"  "God 
is  God,"  "  Jahu  (i.  e.,  Yahveh)  is  God."  I  really  do 
not  understand  this  uneasiness.  For  since  the  Old  Testa- 
ment itself  represents  Abram  as  preaching  in  the  name 
of  Yahveh  (Gen.  xii.  8) ,  and  since  Yahveh  had  already 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE-  103 

been  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  those  old 
names  such  as  Jahu-ilu,  i.  e.,  Joel,  ought  really  to  be 
welcomed  with  joy.  And  these  names  should  prove  very 
opportune,  particularly  for  those  theologians  who  regard 
themselves  as  affirmative  and  who  hold  that  ' '  all  divine 
inspiration  has  undergone  a  gradual  historical  develop- 
ment," thereby  turning  the  orthodox  notion  of  inspira- 
tion upside  down,  as  it  seems  to  me. 

However,  the  great  majority  of  theologians  feel  and 
fear  rightly  that  these  names,  which  are  more  than  a 
thousand  years  older  than  the  corresponding  names  in 
the  Old  Testament,  which  attest  the  worship  of  a  single 
god  named  Jahu,  "the  permanent"  (whether  a  tribal 
god  or  what  not) ,  and  which  moreover  might  indicate  the 
initial  point  of  an  historical  development  of  the  belief  in 
Yahveh  as  existing  in  very  much  \vider  circles  than 
merely  among  the  descendants  of  Abram,  will  thereby 
throw  serious  doubt  upon  its  claim  to  be  a  special  revela- 
tion. And  therefore  they  are  laboring  and  tormenting 
themselves  in  the  effort  to  explain  away  these  names, 
hesitating  at  no  means.  But  though  the  waves  spew  and 
foam,  like  a  lighthouse  in  the  dark  night  stand  fast  the 
names  of  the  descendants  of  North  Semitic  Bedouins  from 
2300  B.  C,  "God  is  God,"  "Jahu  is  God." 

It  seems  to  me  that  exaggerations  should  be  avoided 
in  either  direction.  I  have  never  ceased  to  emphasise 
the  gross  polytheism  of  the  Babylonians,  and  am  far 
from  feeling  obliged  to  disguise  it.  But  I  regard  it  as 
just  as  much  out  of  place  to  make  the  Sumerian-Babylo- 
nian  pantheon  and  its  representation  in  poetry,  particu- 
larly in  popular  poetry,  the  butt  of  shallow  wit  and  sar- 


104 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


castic  exaggerations,  as  we  should  properly  condemn 
such  ridicule  if  directed  at  tlie  gods  of  Homer.  Nor 
should  the  worship  of  divinities  in  images  of  wood  or 
stone  be  in  any  wise  glossed  over.  Only  it  should  not 
be  forgotten  that  even  the  Biblical  account  of  creation 

has  man  created  "in  the 
likeness  of  God,"  in  dia- 
metrical contradiction  of 
the  constantly  emphasised 
"spirituality"  of  God, — 
as  has  rightly  been  pointed 
out  by  students  of  theology. 
And  in  view  of  this  fact  we 
can  understand  after  all  how 
the  Babylonians  reversed 
this  method  and  conceived 
and  represented  their  gods 
in  the  image  of  man. 

The  prophets  of  the  Old 
Testament  do  exactly  the 
same  thing,  at  least  in  spirit. 
In  perfect  agreement  with 
the  Babylonians  and  Ass}-- 
rians  the  prophet  Habakkuk 
(chap,  iii.)  sees  Yahveh  ap- 
proach with  horses  and  char- 
iot, bow  and  arrows  and  lance,  and  even  with  "horns  at 
his  side,"'  with  horns,  the  symbol  of  authority  and 
strength  and  victory  (cp.  Numbers  xxiii.  22) ,  the  cus- 
tomary adornment  of  the  headdress  of  both  higher  and 


Fig.  78.   Horns  the  Emblem  of 
Strength. 


^R.  v.,  "rays  coiyiiiig forl]i  from  his  hand 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


105 


lower  divinities  among  the  Assyrio-Babylonians  (Fig. 
78) .  And  the  representations  of  God  the  Father  in 
Christian  art:  in  Michael  Angelo,  Raphael,  and  all  our 
illustrated  Bibles, — the  representation  of  the  first  day  of 


mill'  \\ 

Fig.  79.    The  Ancient  of  Days.     (After  Schnorr  von  Karolsfeld.) 

creation  (Fig.  79)  is  taken  from  Julius  von  Schnorr's 
illustrated  Bible,— are  all  derived  from  a  vision  of  the 
Prophet  Daniel  (vii.  9)  who  sees  God  as  the  "Ancient  of 
Days,  his  garments  white  as  snow  and  the  hair  of  his 
head  like  unto  pure  wool." 


106  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

But  tlie  Babylonians  can  endure  with  tlie  same  equa- 
nimity as  tlie  Catholic  Church  the  wearisome  ridicule  of 
the  Old  Testament  prophets  cast  upon  the  Babylonian 
idols  who  have  eyes  but  see  not,  ears  but  hear  not,  a  nose 
but  smell  not,  and  feet  but  cannot  go.  For  just  as  intel- 
ligent Catholics  see  in  the  images  merely  the  representa- 
tions of  Christ,  Mary,  and  the  saints,  so  did  the  intelli- 
gent Babylonians :  no  hymn  or  prayer  was  addressed  to 
the  image  as  such, — they  are  alwa3^s  appealing  to  the 
divinity  that  dwells  beyond  the  bounds  of  earth. 

In  passing  judgment  upon  the  ''ethical  monothe- 
ism ' '  of  Israel  also  a  certain  moderation  would  seem  to 
be  desirable.  In  the  first  place,  we  must  except  from 
consideration  in  this  connection  much  of  the  pre-exilic 
period,  during  which  Judah  as  well  as  Israel,  kings  as 
well  as  people,  were  dominated  by  an  ineradicable  3^et 
quite  natural  predilection  for  the  indigenous  Canaanitish 
polytheism. 

Furthermore,  it  seems  to  me  a  particularly  unwise 
proceeding  on  the  part  of  certain  hotspurs  to  j^ortray  the 
ethical  level  of  Israel,  even  that  of  the  pre-exilic  period, 
as  elevated  far  above  that  of  the  Babylonians.  It  is  un- 
deniable that  the  warfare  of  the  Assyrio- Babylonians  was 
cruel  and  sometimes  barbarous.  But  so  was  the  conquest 
of  Canaan  by  the  Hebrew  tribes  accompanied  by  a  tor- 
rent of  innocent  blood ;  the  capture  of  ' '  the  great  and 
goodly  alien  cities,  of  the  houses  full  of  all  good  things, 
of  the  cisterns,  the  vineyards,  the  olive-groves"  (Deuter- 
onomy vi.  10  f.)  was  preceded  by  the  "devoting"  (Deu- 
teronomy vii.  2,  R.  v.,  margin)  of  hundreds  of  villages 
on  both  sides  of  the  Jordan,  that  is,  by  the   merciless 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  107 

massacre  of  all  the  inhabitants,  even  of  the  women  and 
the  very  smallest  of  children.  And  as  for  right  and  jus- 
tice in  state  and  people,  the  persistent  denunciations  by 
the  prophets  of  both  Israel  and  Judah  of  the  oppression 
of  the  poor,  of  widows  and  of  orphans,  taken  in  conjunc- 
tion with  stories  such  as  that  of  Naboth's  vineyard  (1 
Kings  xxi) ,  reveal  a  profound  corruption  of  both  kings 
and  people,  while  the  almost  two  thousand  years'  exist- 
ence of  the  nation  of  Hammurabi  would  seem  to  justify 
the  application  to  it  of  the  saying :  ' '  Righteousness  ex- 
alteth  a  nation." 

We  actually  possess  a  monumental  tablet  which 
warns  the  Babylonian  king  himself  most  insistently 
against  every  species  of  injustice!  *'If  the  king  takes 
the  money  of  the  people  of  Babylon  to  appropriate  it  to 
his  own  treasury,  and  then  hears  the  suit  of  the  Babylo- 
nians and  permits  himself  to  be  inclined  to  partisanship, 
then  Marduk,  the  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  will  set  his 
enemy  against  him  and  give  his  possessions  and  his 
treasure  to  his  enemy." 

In  the  matter  of  love  of  one's  neighbor,  of  compas- 
sion upon  one's  neighbor,  as  has  already  been  remarked, 
there  is  no  deep  gulf  to  be  discovered  between  Babylon 
and  the  Old  Testament. 

In  passing  let  me  call  attention  here  to  one  other  \ 
point.  Old  Testament  theologians  make  very  merry 
over  the  Babylonian  account  of  the  Flood  with  its  poly- 
theism, and  yet  it  contains  one  element  which  appeals  to 
us  much  more  humanely  than  that  of  the  Bible.  "The 
Deluge,"  thus  Xisuthros  tells  us,  "was  over.  I  looked 
forth  over  the  v/ide  ocean,  lamenting  aloud  because  all 


108  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

humankind  had  perished."  Eduard  Siiss,  the  celebrated 
Austrian  geologist,  confessed  long  since  that  in  touches 
like  this  ' '  the  simple  narrative  of  Xisuthros  bears  the 
stamp  of  convincing  truth."  We  find  no  report  of  any 
compassion  on  the  part  of  Noah. 

The  Babylonian  Noah  and  his  wife  are  transformed 
into  gods ;  this  too  would  have  been  impossible  in  Israel. 
Of  the  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem  to  the  Feast  of  Weeks  we 
read,  Deuteronomy  xvi.  11  (comp.  also  xii.  18)  :  "And 
thou  shalt  rejoice  before  Yahveh,  thy  God,  thou  and  th3^ 
son  and  thy  daughter  and  thy  manservant  and  thy  maid- 
servant,"— but  where  is  the  wife?  It  is  generally  recog- 
nised that  the  position  of  women  in  Israel  was  a  very 
subordinate  one  from  earliest  childhood.  We  find  in  the 
Old  Testament  scarcely  a  single  girl's  name  which  ex- 
presses in  the  cordial  manner  customary  in  the  case  of 
boy's  names,  joyful  gratitude  to  Yahveh  for  the  birth  of 
the  child.  All  the  tender  pet-names  of  girls,  such  as 
"Beloved,"  "Fragrant  One,"  "Dew-born,"  "Bee," 
"Gazelle,"  "Ewe"  (Rachel),  "Myrtle"  and  "Palm," 
* '  Coral ' '  and  ' '  Crown ' '  cannot  in  my  opinion  deceive  us 
on  this  point.  The  woman  is  the  property  of  her  parents 
and  afterwards  of  her  husband  ;  she  is  a  valuable  ' '  hand ' ' 
upon  which  in  marriage  a  great  share  of  the  heaviest  do- 
mestic burdens  are  laid.  And  above  all,  as  in  Islam,  she 
is  disqualified  for  performing  religious  rites. 

All  this  was  different  and  better  in  Babylon  :  for  in- 
stance, we  read  in  the  time  of  Hammurabi  of  women  who 
have  their  chairs  carried  into  the  temple ;  we  find  the 
names  of  women  as  witnesses  in  legal  documents,  and 
other  similar  things.     Right  here  in  this  matter  of  the 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  109 

position  of  women  we  may  perceive  clearly  how  pro- 
foundly the  Babylonian  civilisation  was  influenced  by  the 
non-Semitic  civilisation  of  the  Sumerians. 

And  how  variously  pitched  is  that  instrument,  the 
human  temperament !  While  Koldewey  and  others  with 
him  are  astonished  anew  that  the  excavations  in  Babylo- 
nia bring  to  light  absolutely  no  obscene  figures,  a  Catho- 
lic Old  Testament  scholar  knows  of  ' '  numberless  statu- 
ettes found  in  Babylon  which  have  no  other  purpose  but 


..jJ 


Fig.  80.  Babylonian  Clay  Figures  Representing  the  Goddess  of  Birth. 


to  give  expression  to  the  lowest  and  most  vulgar  sensual- 
ity." Thou  poor  goddess  of  childbirth,  poor  goddess  Is- 
tar!  However,  although  thou  be  moulded  only  of  clay, 
yet  needst  thou  not  blush  to  appear  in  this  company 
(Fig.  80)  ;  for  I  am  certain  thou  wilt  give  no  offence, 
just  as  certain  as  that  we  are  none  of  us  offended  but  on 
the  contrary  love  to  give  ourselves  up  to  the  contempla- 
tion of  the  glorious  and  familiar  marble  statue  of  Eve 
with  her  children  (Fig.  81) . 


110 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


And  although  an  Evangelical  specialist  in  the  Old 
Testament,  finding  occasion  in  a  passage  of  a  Babylonian 
poem,  which  has  not  yet  received  its  definitive  interpre- 
tation, exclaims  with  similar  ethical  indignation,  that  we 
* '  must  needs  search  through  the  most  vulgar  corners  of 
Further  Asia  in  order  to  find  its  analogues,"  I  cannot, 
indeed,  boast  of  equal  knowledge  of  local  details,  but  I 

would  like  to  remind  him  of 
the  reasons  why  our  school 
authorities  so  urgently  de- 
manded extracts  from  the  Old 
Testament,  and  to  warn  him 
against  throwing  stones,  lest 
all  too  speedily  his  own  glass- 
house come  crashing  about  his 
ears. 

However,  these  skirmishes, 
provoked  by  my  opponents, 
into  the  realm  of  the  moral 
level  of  the  two  nations  in- 
volved, seem  to  me  of  infinitely 
less  importance  than  a  final  ob- 
servation in  connection  with 
the  proclamation  of  the  ' '  eth- 
ical monotheism  ' '  of  Israel  or  of  the  ' '  spirit  of  prophet- 
ism  "  as  "a  genuine  revelation  of  the  living  God," 
which  in  my  opinion  has  not  yet  received  fitting  atten- 
tion. 

Five  times  a  day  and  even  more  frequently  the  ortho- 
dox Moslem  prays  the  Paternoster  of  Islam,  the  first  Sura 
of  the  Koran,  which  closes  with  the  words :   *'  Lead  us,  O 


Fig.  8i.   Eve  and  Her  Children. 
(A  marble  statue  by  Adolf  Briitt.) 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE-  111 

Allah,  the  right  way,  the  way  of  those  whom  thou  hast 
favored,  who  are  not  smitten  by  thy  wrath  [like  the  Jews] 
and  who  are  not  in  error  [like  the  Christians]."  The 
Moslem  alone  is  the  one  favored  by  Allah,  he  alone  is  the 
one  chosen  by  God  to  adore  and  worship  the  true  God. 
All  other  men  and  races  are  kafiriin^  heretics,  whom  God 
has  not  predestined  to  eternal  salvation.  Just  such  and 
not  otherwise,  deeply  rooted  in  the  nature  of  the  Semite, 
does  the  Yahvism  of  Israel  show  itself  to  be,  in  the  pre- 
exilic  as  well  as  in  the  post-exilic  period.  Yahveh  is  the 
only  true  (or  highest)  God,  but  at  the  same  time  he  is 
the  God  of  Israel  solely  and  exclusively,  Israel  is  his 
chosen  people  and  his  inheritance ;  all  other  nations  are 
Gojmi  or  heathen,  given  over  by  Yahveh  himself  to  god- 
lessness  and  idolatry.  This  is  a  doctrine  absolutely  ir- 
reconcilable with  our  nobler  conception  of  God,  but  which, 
nevertheless,  is  uttered  in  uncloaked  language  in  the 
nineteenth  verse  of  the  fourth  chapter  of  Deuteronomy,  a 
passage  which  at  the  same  time  destroys  with  a  single 
phrase  the  illusion  of  a  "  primitive  revelation "  :  "  Lest 
thou  lift  up  thine  eyes  unto  heaven  and  when  thou  seest 
the  sun  and  the  moon  and  the  stars,  even  all  the  host  of 
heaven,  thou  worship  them  and  reverence  them,  which 
Yahveh,  thy  God,  hath  divided  unto  all  the  peoples  under 
the  whole  heaven ;  but  you  Yahveh  hath  taken  and 
brought  forth  out  of  Egypt,  to  be  unto  him  a  people  of 
inheritance."  According  to  this,  the  worship  of  the 
heavenly  bodies  and  of  idols  was  willed  and  decreed  by 
Yahveh  himself  upon  the  peoples  under  the  whole  heaven. 
So  much  the  more  dreadful  is  the  shock  when  in  Deute- 
ronomy vii.  2,  Yahveh  gives  the  command  to  exterminate 


112  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

mercilessly  on  account  of  tlieir  impiety  the  seven  great 
and  powerful  peoples  whom  Israel  may  expect  to  find 
already  in  possession  of  Canaan,  or  when  we  read,  verse 
16 :  "And  thou  shalt  consume  all  the  peoples  which  Yah- 
veh  thy  God  shall  deliver  unto  thee ;  thine  63^6  shall  not 
pity  them." 

It  goes  hard  to  regard  as  inspired  bj^  the  hol3^  and 
just  God  this  monotheism  of  the  exclusively  national 
type.  It  is  not  manifested  in  the  nature  of  the  case  in 
such  passages  as  the  account  of  the  creation,  but  in  gene- 
ral it  runs  throughout  the  Old  Testament  undeniably 
from  Sinai  on:  "I  am  Yahveh,  thy  God,"  to  Deutero- 
Isaiah :  "Comfort  ye,  comfort  ye  my  people,"  and  to 
Zechariah's  prophecy  (xx.  8,  23)  :  "Thus  saith  Yahveh 
Zebaoth :  In  those  daj^s  it  shall  come  to  pass  that  ten 
men  shall  take  hold,  out  of  all  the  languages  of  the  na- 
tions ^Gojifii)  ^  shall  even  take  hold  of  the  skirt  of  him 
that  is  a  Jew,  saying:  'We  will  go  with  3^ou,  for  we 
have  heard  that  God  is  with  you.'  "  It  is  this  monotheism 
that  left  all  the  other  nations  of  the  earth  "without  hope" 
and  "without  God  in  the  world,"  as  for  instance  the 
Apostle  Paul  assumes  (Hphesians  ii.  11  f.)-  And  3^et 
we  have  all  been  so  hypnotised  from  3^outh  up  b3'  this 
dogma  of  the  "  exclusive  inheritance  of  Israel"  (Ephe- 
sians  ii.  12) ,  that  we  regard  the  histor3^  of  the  ancient 
world  from  an  entirely  wrong  point  of  view  and  are  even 
satisfied  to  claim  for  ourselves  at  this  day  the  role  of  a 
"spiritual  Israel,"  forgetting  the  niight3'  historical  revo- 
lution which  was  accomplished  in  the  New  Testament 
times  under  the  influence  of  John  the  Baptist  and  the 
preaching  of  Jesus,  that  dramatic  conflict  between  Juda- 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  113 

ism,  Jewish  Christianity,  and  Gentile  Christianity,  which 
made  it  possible  for  Peter  to  exclaim  (Acts  x.  34  f.)  : 
* '  Of  a  truth  I  perceive  that  God  is  no  respecter  of  per- 
sons, but  that  in  every  nation,  he  that  feareth  him  and  is 
acceptable  to  him,"  thus  tearing  down  the  partition  be- 
tween the  Oriental-Israelitic  and  the  Christian-philosophic 
conception  of  the  universe. 

For  my  own  part,  I  live  firm  in  the  belief  that  the 
early  Hebrew  scriptures,  even  if  they  lose  their  standing 
as  "revealed"  or  as  permeated  by  a  "revealed"  spirit, 
will  nevertheless  always  maintain  their  great  importance, 
especially  as  a  unique  monument  of  a  great  religio-histo- 
rical  process  which  continues  even  into  our  own  times. 
The  lofty  passages  in  the  prophets  and  the  psalms,  filled 
with  a  living  confidence  in  God  and  with  longing  for  re- 
pose in  God,  will  always  find  a  living  echo  in  our  hearts, 
despite  the  particularistic  limitation  of  its  literal  text  and 
its  literal  meaning,  which  are  largely  obliterated  anyway 
in  our  translation  of  the  Bible.  Indeed,  words  like  those 
of  the  prophet  Micah  (vi.  6-S)  :  "Wherewith  shall  I 
come  before  Yahveh,  and  bow  myself  before  the  high 
God?  Shall  I  come  before  him  with  burnt  offerings,  with 
calves  of  a  year  old?  Will  Yahveh  be  pleased  with  thou- 
sands of  rams,  or  ten  thousands  of  rivers  of  oil?  Or  shall 
I  give  my  firstborn  for  my  transgression,  the  fruit  of  my 
body  for  the  sin  of  my  soul?  He  hath  showed  thee,  O 
man,  what  is  good;  and  what  doth  Yahveh  require  of 
thee,  but  to  do  justice,  and  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk 
humbly  with  thy  God!  " — words  like  these,  insisting  on 
an  ethical  manifestation  of  religion  in  the  life  (and  which 
are  also  found  in  Babylonian  writings) ,  come,  as  it  were, 


114  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

from  die  very  soul  of  all  sincerely  religious  people  to- 
day. 

But  on  tlie  other  hand,  let  us  not  blindly  cling  to 
antiquated  and  scientificall3'  discredited  dogmas  from  the 
vain  fear  that  our  faith  in  God  and  our  true  religious  life 
might  suffer  harm !  Let  us  remember  that  all  things 
earthly  are  in  living  motion  and  that  standing  still  means 
death.  Let  us  look  back  upon  the  mighty,  throbbing 
force  with  which  the  German  Reformation  filled  the  great 
nations  of  the  earth  in  every  field  of  human  endeavor  and 
human  progress !  But  even  the  Reformation  is  only  one 
stage  on  the  road  to  the  goal  of  truth  set  for  us  by  God 
and  in  God.  Let  us  press  forward  toward  it,  humbly  but 
with  all  the  resources  of  free  scientific  investigation,  J03- 
fully  professing  our  adherence  to  that  standard  perceived 
with  eagle  eye  from  the  high  watch-tower  and  courage- 
ously proclaimed  to  all  the  world  :  "  The  further  develop- 
ment of  religion." 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  BABEL 
AND  BIBLE 


LITERATURE  ON  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


J.  Barth,  Bahel  und  israelitisches  Religio7iswescn.  A  Lecture.  Ber- 
lin, 1902  ;   36  pp. 

Prof.  Dr.  Karl  Budde,  Das  Alte  Testamejit  und  die  Ausgrabungen. 
Giesen,  1903.  (A  Lecture,  delivered  May  29,  1902,  at  the 
Theological  Conference  at  Giessen);  39  pp.,  of  which,  how- 
ever, only  pp.  I- 10  are  pertinent. 

Dr.  Johannes  Doller,  Imperial  and  Royal  Court  Chaplain  and 
Director  of  Studies  at  the  Frintaneum,  Vienna,  Bibcl  und 
Babel  oder  Babel  und  Bibel?  Eitie  Entgegnung  auf  Prof.  F. 
Deliizscli's  "Babel  und  Bibel."     Padernborn,  1903. 

Prof.  Dr.  Hommel,  Die  altorienialischen  Denkmaler  und  das  Alte 
Testament.  Eine  Erwiderung  auf  Prof.  Fr.  Delitzsch's  "Babel 
und  Bibel.'"     Berlin,  1902;   38  pp. 

Dr.  Alfred  Jeremias,  pastor  of  the  Lutheran  Church  at  Leipzig, 
Im  Kampfe  u?n  Babel  und  Bibel.  Ein  Wort  zur  Verstdndigung 
und  Abwehr.      Leipzig,  1903;   35  pp. 

Prof.  D.  R.  Kittel,  Die  babylonischen  Ausgrabungen  und  die  biblische 
Urges  c  hi  elite.  Leipzig,  1902  ;  36  pp.  See  also  under  Sec- 
tion II.,  p.  91. 

W.  Knieschre,  pastor  at  Sieversdorf,  Bibel  und  Babel,  El  und  Bel. 
Eine  Replik  auf  Friedrich  Delitzschs's  Babel  und  Bibel.  West- 
end-Berlin,  1902  ;   64  pp. 

Dr.  Eduard  Konig,  Prof.  (5f  theolog}'.  Bibel  und  Babel.  Eine 
kulturgesehichtliclie  Skizzc.  Sixth,  enlarged  edition,  with  ref- 
erence to  the  most  recent  literature  on  the  subject  of  Babel 
and  Bible.      Berlin,   1902;  60  pp. 


118  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

Prof.  D.  Sam.  Oettli,  Dcr  Kampf  um  Bihel  und  Babel.  Et?i  reli- 
giofisgescJuchtlicher  Vortrag.  Second  edition.  Leipzig,  1902; 
32  pp. 

Rabb.  Dr.  Ludw.  A.  Rosenthal,  Babel  und  Bibel  oder  Babel  gegen 
Bibel  ?     Ein  Wort  ziir  Kldrung.      Berlin,  1902;   31  pp. 

Prof.  Bruno  Baentsch,  Jena,  "Babel  und  Bibel.  Eine  Priifung 
des  unter  diesem  Titel  erschienenen  Vortrages  von  Friedrich 
Delitzsch,  besonders  auf  die  darin  enthaltenen  religions- 
geschichtlichen  Ausfiihrungen,"  in  the  Protestantische  Alo7iats- 
heftc,  edited  by  D.  Julius  Websky.  Vol.  VI.,  No.  8  (August 
15,  1902).  Berlin,  1902.  Cf.  also  two  articles,  signed  B.  B., 
"Noch  einmal  Babel  und  Bibel,"  in  the  T/mri/iger  Rinid- 
seliaii,  March  2nd  and  9th,  1902. 

Prof.  Dr.  C.  H.  Cornill,  Breslau,  Deutsche  Litter aturzeitung, 
1902,  No.  27  (July  5). 

Heinrich  Danneil  (Schonebeck  a.  E.),  "Babel  und  Bibel," 
MagdeburgiscJie  Zeitung,  No.  25,  1902,  Beiblatt. 

Privatdocent  Dr.  W.  Engelkemper,  Miinster,  "Babel  und  Bibel," 
Wisscnschaftliclie  Bella gc  ziir  Gcrmauia,  1902,  Nos.  31  (July 
31)  and  32  (August  7).      Berlin,  1902. 

Prof.  D.  Gunkel,  "Babylonische  und  biblische  Urgeschichte." 
Christliche    Welt,   XVII.,    1903,    No.  6   (Feb.  5),    cols.    121- 

134- 

Prof.  Dr.  Peter  Jensen,  "Babel  und  Bibel,"  Die  christliche  Welt, 
XVI.,  1902,  No.  21  (May  22),  cols.  487-494. 

Franz  Kaulen,  Bonn,  "Babel  und  Bibel,"  Literarischer  Hand- 
iveiscr  zundchst  fiir  alle  Katholikcn  deutscher  Zunge.  XL., 
Nos.  766  and  767,  1901-1902. 

P.  Keil,  London,  "Babel  und  Bibel."     Pastor  bonus.     Zeitschri/t 
fiir  kirchliche  Wisscnschaft  und  Praxis,  edited  by  Domkapitular 
Dr.  P.  Einig.     XV.,  parts  i,  2,  3   (Oct.  i,    Nov.  i,    Dec.  i, 
1902). 

Prof.  D.  R.  Kittee,  Leipzig,  "Jahve  in  Babel  und  Bibel,"  TJieo- 
logisches  Literaturblatt,  XXIII. ,  No.  17  (April  25,  1902). 
Also,  "Noch  einmal  Jahve  in  Babel  und  Bibel,"  ibid.,  No. 
18  (May  2,  1902),  and   "Der  Monotheismus  in   Babel  und 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  119 

Bibel,"  AUgemeine  evangelisch-lutherische  Kirchenzeitung,  igo2, 
No.  17  (April  25,  1902). 

Rabbi  Dr.  S.  Meyer,  Regensburg,  "Die  Hypothesenglaubigen," 
Deutsche  israclitische  Zcitung,  XIX.,  No.  8  (20th  February, 
1902);  and  "Nochmals  Babel  und  Bibel,"  ibid.,  No.  10 
(6th  March). 

"Babel  und  Bibel,"  Ncue  prciissische  (^Krcuz-')  Zeititng,  1902,  No. 

211    (7th   May).      Signed  1-  [Lie.    theol.    Prof.    Riedel, 

Greifswald]. 

Wolff,  "Babel  und  Bibel,"  Evajigelische  Kirchenzeitung,  1902,  No. 
28  (cols.  657-662). 


OPINIONS  ON  '/BABEL  AND  BIBLE." 

EMPEROR  WILLIAM  ON    "BABEL  AND  BIBLE." 

(A  Letter  from  His  Majesty  Emperor  William  II    to  Admiral  Hollman,  President 
of  the  Oriental  Society  ) 

February  15,  1903. 
Afy  Dear  Hollmati: 

My  telegram  to  you  will  unquestionably  have  removed  the 
doubts  which  you  still  entertained  regarding  the  concluding  pas- 
sage of  the  lecture,  which  was  clearly  understood  by  the  audience 
and  therefore  could  not  be  altered.  I  am  glad,  nevertheless,  that 
the  subject-matter  of  the  second  lecture  has  again  been  taken  up, 
and  I  gladly  seize  the  opportunity  after  a  perusal  of  a  copy  of  the 
proofs  to  state  again  clearly  my  position  with  regard  to  it. 

During  an  evening's  entertainment  with  us  Professor  Delitzsch 
had  the  opportunity  to  fully  confer  and  debate  with  Her  Majesty, 
the  Empress,  and  Dr.  Dryander,  while  I  listened  and  remained 
passive.  Unfortunately  he  abandoned  the  standpoints  of  the  strict 
historian  and  Assyriologist,  going  into  religious  and  theological 
conclusions  which  were  quite  nebulous  or  bold. 

When  he  came  to  speak  of  the  New  Testament,  it  became 
clear  at  once  that  he  developed  such  quite  divergent  views  regard- 
ing the  person  of  our  Saviour  that  I  had  to  express  the  diametri- 
cally opposite  view.  He  does  not  recognise  the  divinity  of  Christ 
as  a  deduction  therefrom  and  asserts  that  the  Old  Testament  con- 
tains no  revelation  about  him  as  the  Messiah. 

Here  the  Assyriologist  and  the  historical  investigator  ceases 
and  the  theologian  begins,  with  all  his  light  and  shadow  sides.  In 
this  province  I  can  only  urgently  advise  him  to  proceed  cautiously, 
step  by  step,  and  at  any  rate  to  ventilate  his  theses  only  in  the 
theological  books  and  in  the  circle  of  his  colleagues.     Spare  us, 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  121 

the  laymen,  and,  above  all,  the  Oriental  Society,  from  hearing  of 
them. 

We  carry  on  excavations  and  publish  the  results  in  behalf  of 
science  and  history,  but  not  to  conform  or  attack  religious  hypoth- 
eses. 

Professor  Delitzsch,  the  theologian,  has  run  away  with  Profes- 
sor Delitzsch,  the  historian  ;  his  history  is  exploited  merely  for  the 
benefit  of  his  theology. 

I  regret  that  Professor  Delitzsch  did  not  adhere  to  his  original 
program  which  he  developed  last  year;  viz.,  to  determine,  on  the 
basis  of  the  discoveries  of  our  society  and  by  means  of  critically 
verified  translations  of  the  inscriptions,  the  extent  to  which  these 
materials  shed  light  on  the  history  of  the  people  of  Israel  or  eluci- 
date the  historical  events,  customs  and  habits,  traditions,  politics 
and  laws  of  the  Israelites.  In  other  words,  he  should  have  shown 
the  mutual  relationship  in  which  the  undeniably  powerful  and 
highly  developed  civilisation  of  the  Babylonians  stood  to  that  of 
the  Israelites,  and  the  extent  to  which  the  former  might  have  in- 
fluenced the  latter  or  have  impressed  upon  it  its  own  stamp.  He 
could  thus  have  saved,  so  to  speak,  from  a  purely  human  point  of 
view,  the  honor  and  good  name  of  the  Babylonian  people  which 
has  certainly  been  depicted  in  the  Old  Testament  in  a  revolting 
and  grossly  one-sided  manner.  This  was  indeed  his  original  inten- 
tion,— at  least  as  I  conceive  it, — and  certainly  his  is  a  most  fruit- 
ful and  interesting  field,  the  investigation,  elucidation,  and  expla- 
nation of  which  necessarily  interests  us  laymen  in  the  highest 
degree  and  would  have  placed  us  under  the  highest  obligation  to 
him.  At  precisely  here  is  the  place  where  he  should  have  stopped 
but  beyond  which  unfortunately  his  ardent  zeal  led  him.  As  was 
not  otherwise  to  be  expected,  the  excavations  brought  information 
to  light  which  has  a  bearing  also  on  the  religion  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. He  should  have  mentioned  this  fact  and  should  have  em- 
phasised and  explained  whatever  coincidences  occurred ;  but  all 
purely  religious  conclusions  it  was  his  duty  to  have  left  for  his  hear- 
ers themselves  to  draw.  Thus  the  interest  and  the  favor  of  the  lay 
public  would  have  been  gained  in  the  fullest  measure  for  his  lec- 
ture. 

He  approached  the  question  of  revelation  in  a  polemical  tone, 
more  or  less  denying  it  or  reducing  it  to  a  matter  of  purely  human 
development.  That  was  a  grave  error,  for  thereby  he  touched  on 
the  innermost,  holiest  possession  of  many  of  his  hearers. 


122  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

And  whether  he  did  so  justifiably  or  unjustifiably, — and  that  is 
for  our  present  purpose  quite  indifferent,  since  we  are  concerned 
here  not  with  scientific  conventions  of  theologians  but  with  lay 
people  of  all  ages  and  professions, — he  still  either  demolished  or 
endangered  the  dearest  conceptions,  or  it  may  be,  the  illusions  of 
many  of  his  hearers, — conceptions  with  which  these  people  had  in- 
terwoven their  oldest  and  dearest  associations.  And  unqestionably 
he  shattered  or  at  least  undermined  for  these  people  their  faith.  It 
is  a  deed  that  only  the  greatest  genius  should  venture  to  attempt 
and  for  which  the  mere  study  of  Assyriology  did  not  justify  him. 

Goethe  also  once  discussed  this  question,  calling  emphatic  at- 
tention to  the  fact  that  one  must  be  on  one's  guard  in  speaking  to 
the  general  public  not  to  destroy  even  such  insignificant  structures 
as  mere  "pagodas  of  terminology."  The  fundamental  principle, 
that  it  is  very  important  to  distinguish  precisely  between  what  is 
and  what  is  not  adapted  to  the  place,  the  public,  etc.,  appears  to 
have  escaped  the  excellent  Professor  in  his  zeal.  As  a  professional 
theologian  it  is  permissible  for  him  to  publish  in  technical  reviews 
and  for  his  colleagues  theses,  hypotheses,  and  theories,  nay,  even 
convictions  which  it  would  not  be  proper  for  him  to  utter  in  a  pub- 
lic lecture  or  book. 

I  should  now  like  to  advert  again  to  my  personal  attitude 
toward  the  doctrine  of  revelation  and  to  state  it  in  terms  similar  to 
those  I  have  formerly  employed  toward  you,  my  dear  Hollman, 
and  toward  other  gentlemen.  - 

I  distinguish  between  two  different  kinds  of  revelation, — one 
progressive,  and,  as  it  were,  historical ;  the  other  purely  religious, 
as  preparing  the  way  for  the  future  Messiah. 

Regarding  the  former,  it  must  be  said  for  me,  it  does  not  ad- 
mit of  a  doubt,  not  even  the  slightest,  that  God  reveals  himself 
continuously  in  the  race  of  man  created  by  him.  He  breathed  into 
man  the  breath  of  his  life  and  follows  with  fatherly  love  and  inter- 
est the  development  of  the  human  race.  In  order  to  lead  it  for- 
ward and  develop  it,  he  reveals  himself  in  this  or  that  great  sage, 
whether  priest  or  king,  w'hether  among  the  heathen,  the  Jews,  or 
the  Christians.  Hammurabi  was  one.  So  was  Moses,  Abraham, 
Homer,  Charlemagne,  Luther,  Shakespeare,  Goethe,  Kant,  and 
Emperor  William  the  Great.  These  he  sought  out  and  endowed 
with  his  grace  to  accomplish  splendid,  imperishable  results  for 
their  people,  in  their  intellectual  and  physical  provinces,  according 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  123 

to  hiy  will.  How  often  my  grandfather  pointed  out  that  he  was 
only  an  instrument  in  the  Lord's  hands. 

The  achievements  of  the  great  intellects  of  the  world  were  do- 
nated by  God  to  the  nations  in  order  that  they  might  through  their 
aid  make  further  progress,  and  might  feel  their  way  farther  and 
farther  through  the  labyrinths  which  yet  remained  uninvestigated. 
Unquestionably  God  did  "reveal"  himself  differently  to  the  differ- 
ent races  according  to  their  position  and  rank  in  the  scale  of  civil- 
isation, and  he  does  the  same  to-day.  For  just  as  we  may  be  over- 
whelmed by  the  grandeur,  magnificence,  and  might  of  nature  when 
we  look  upon  it  and  wonder  while  so  doing  at  the  grandeur  of  God 
who  is  revealed  in  it,  so  assuredly  are  we  justified,  when  we  con- 
template the  grand  and  splendid  deeds  that  a  man  or  a  nation  has 
accomplished,  in  wondering  with  gratitude  at  the  splendor  of  the 
revelation  made  by  God  in  them.  He  works  directly  upon  us  and 
among  us. 

The  second  form  of  revelation,  the  more  religious,  is  that  which 
leads  to  the  manifestation  of  our  Lord.  It  was  introduced  with 
Abraham,  slow  but  forward  looking  and  omniscient,  for  humanity 
was  lost  without  it.  Now  begins  the  most  astonishing  activity  of 
God's  revelation.  Abraham's  race  and  the  peoples  developing  from 
it  regard  faith  in  one  God  as  their  holiest  possession,  and,  it  fol- 
lows, hold  fast  to  it  with  ironlike  consistency.  It  is  their  duty  to 
foster  and  cherish  it.  Split  up  during  their  Egyptian  captivity, 
the  divided  elements  were  again  welded  together  by  Moses,  ever 
trying  to  hold  fast  to  their  monotheism.  It  was  the  direct  inter- 
vention of  God  that  caused  the  rejuvenation  of  this  people,  thus 
proved  through  centuries,  till  the  Messiah,  heralded  by  prophets 
and  psalmists,  finally  appeared,  the  greatest  revelation  of  God  in 
the  world,  for  he  appeared  in  the  son  himself.  Christ  is  God,  God 
in  human  form.  He  redeemed  us  and  inspires,  entices  us  to  follow 
him.  We  feel  his  fire  burning  in  us.  His  sympathy  strengthens 
us.  His  discontent  destroys  us.  But  also  his  intercession  saves 
us.  Conscious  of  victory,  building  solely  upon  his  world,  we  go 
through  labor,  ridicule,  sorrow,  misery,  and  death,  for  we  have  in 
him  God's  revealed  word,  and  he  never  lies. 

That  is  my  view  of  these  matters. 

For  us  of  the  Evangelical  Denomination  the  Word  has,  through 
Luther,  been  made  our  all,  and  as  a  good  theologian  Delitzsch 
should  not  have  forgotten  that  our  great  Luther  taught  us  to  sing 
and  believe  • 


124  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

"  Inviolate  the  Word  let  stand." 

It  is  to  me  self-evident  that  the  Old  Testament  contains  many 
sections  which  are  of  a  purely  human  and  historical  nature,  and  are 
not  God's  revealed  word.  These  are  merely  historical  descriptions 
of  incidents  of  all  kinds  which  happen  in  the  political,  religious, 
moral,  and  intellectual  life  of  this  people. 

The  legislative  act  on  Sinai,  for  example,  can  be  only  regarded 
as  symbolically  inspired  by  God.  When  Moses  had  to  reburnish 
well  known  paragraphs  of  the  law,  perhaps  derived  from  the  code 
of  Hammurabi,  in  order  to  incorporate  and  bind  them  into  the 
loose,  weak  fabric  of  his  people,  here  the  historian  can  perhaps 
construe  from  the  sense  or  wording  a  connection  with  the  laws  of 
Hammurabi,  the  friend  of  Abraham.  That  is  perhaps  logically 
correct.  But  that  will  never  disguise  the  fact  that  God  incited 
Moses  thereto  and  in  so  far  revealed  himself  to  the  people  of  Israel. 

Accordingly  it  is  my  opinion,  that  henceforward  in  his  lectures 
before  our  society  it  will  be  better  for  our  good  Professor  to  let 
matters  of  religion  alone.  On  the  other  hand,  he  may  depict  un- 
disturbed the  relation  which  the  religion,  customs,  etc.  of  the  Baby- 
lonians bear  to  those  of  the  Old  Testament. 

For  me  the  following  conclusions  result  from  the  foregoing 
discussions. 

1.  I  believe  in  the  one  and  only  God. 

2.  We  human  beings  need  a  form  in  order  to  teach  his  exist- 
ence, especially  for  our  children. 

3.  This  has  hitherto  been  the  Old  Testament.  The  present 
version  of  this  will  be  possibly  and  substantially  modified  under  the 
influence  of  research  through  inscriptions  and  excavations.  That 
does  not  matter.  Neither  does  it  matter  that  much  of  the  nimbus 
of  the  chosen  people  will  thereby  disappear.  The  kernel  of  the 
contents  of  the  Old  Testament  will  remain  always  the  same, — God 
and  his  works. 

Religion  has  never  been  the  result  of  science,  but  the  pouring 
out  of  the  heart  and  being  of  man  from  intercourse  with  God. 
With  cordial  thanks  and  greetings. 

Your  Faithful  Friend, 

WiLHELM,    I.    R. 

P.  S. — You  may  make  the  utmost  use  of  these  lines.  Let  all 
who  are  interested  read. 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  125 


PROFESSOR    HARNACK    ON    THE    EMPERORS  ATTITUDE  TOWARD 
"BABEL  AND  BIBLE." 

The  Emperor  has  spoken,  in  order  to  express  his  position 
v/ithout  ambiguity  in  an  historico-theological  dispute.  This  is 
something  new,  but  in  view  of  all  the  circumstances  the  Emperor's 
decision  is  quite  easily  explained.  The  opinion  was  likely  to  be- 
come widespread,  had  indeed  become  widespread,  that  the  Em- 
peror occupied  the  same  theological  standpoint  as  Dr.  Delitzsch. 
Not  wishing  to  permit  this  misunderstanding  to  continue,  the  Em- 
peror wrote  as  the  public  has  read. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  scholars  there  was,  indeed,  no  real 
controversy.  It  has  long  been  known  that  a  portion  of  the  myths 
and  legends  of  the  Old  Testament,  together  with  important  ele- 
ments of  ancient  Israelitish  civilisation,  had  their  origin  in  Baby- 
lon. It  was  equally  beyond  question  that  this  fact  is  fatal  to  the 
current  notion  of  the  inspiration  of  the  Old  Testament.  For  the 
refutation  of  this  belief  there  was  no  need  of  reference  to  Babylon : 
a  hundred  other  observed  facts  had  contributed  to  destroy  it. 

But  the  knowledge  of  these  facts  had  not  become  common 
property.  However,  the  theologians  cannot  be  held  to  blame  for 
this.  They  had  done  their  duty  toward  spreading  the  information 
in  books  and  pamphlets  and  lectures.  Our  German  literature  points 
with  pride  to  a  work  of  such  eminence  as  Wellhausen's  History  of 
Israel;  it  appeals  to  all  educated  people  and  is  classic  in  form  and 
content.  And  beside  it  stand  a  half  dozen  other  excellent  works, 
each  of  which  gives  full  and  accessible  information  regarding  Old 
Testament  literature  and  history.  But  Church  and  School  have 
been  in  league  to  suppress  this  knowledge  by  excluding  it  from 
their  domain.  And  indeed  they  are  not  alone  to  blame.  Indolence 
and  fear  have  done  their  share. 

To  Delitzsch's  lectures  is  due  the  credit  for  the  fact  that  we 
now  hear  preached  from  the  house-tops  what  before  was  but  like  a 
voice  in  the  wilderness.  "Credit,"  indeed,  is  scarcely  the  word  ; 
it  is  due  to  the  force  of  circumstances.  But  we  do  not  need  to 
weigh  the  individual  credit  for  the  result ;  we  hail  with  gratitude 
the  fact  that  Delitzsch  has  given  wide  currency  to  a  more  correct 
view  of  the  Old  Testament. 

But  has  he  in  fact  done  this?  Unquestionably  he  has  removed 
a  great  error  :  the  belief  that  the  materials  of  the  Old  Testament 


126  BABElv  AND  BIBLE. 

are  all  original.  But  how  little  does  the  material  amount  to  in  the 
history  of  religion  and  of  the  spirit!  If  to-day  some  one  should  go 
before  the  public  and  announce  to  it:  "Gentlemen,  I  come  to  re- 
relieve  you  from  a  great  error;  you  have  hitherto  believed  that 
Goethe's  I^aust  was  an  original  work,  while  in  fact  it  is  only  a  recent 
secondary  product ;  for  the  entire  material  of  it  is  found  in  a  popu- 
lar legend  of  the  sixteenth  century," — what  would  be  the  reply  to 
him?  He  would  be  laughed  to  scorn,  and  Delitzsch  would  join  in 
the  laugh. 

Without  doubt  he  is  very  far  from  trying  to  determine  the 
value  of  the  Old  Testament  religion  on  the  ground  of  its  depend- 
ence upon  Babylon,  but  in  my  opinion  he  has  not  done  enough  to 
prevent  the  establishment  of  a  false  conception  of  the  matter  in  his 
hearers  and  readers.  This  public  is  very  far  from  conceding  to  the 
prophets  and  the  psalmists  what  it  concedes  without  hesitation  to 
a  Goethe,  Furthermore,  for  the  very  reason  that  there  has  pre- 
vailed hitherto  a  notion  of  the  supernatural  character  of  the  Old 
Testament,  the  pendulum  of  opinion,  following  a  familiar  psycho- 
logical law,  now  swings  to  the  opposite  extreme.  To-day  it  is  the 
talk  of  the  streets  that  "the  Old  Testament  no  longer  amounts  to 
much." 

At  this  point  the  Emperor  enters  the  arena  with  his  letter. 
But  meantime  the  chasm  had  become  deeper.  As  the  result  of  an 
interview  the  monarch  had  become  convinced  that  Professor  De- 
litzsch did  not  hold  the -orthodox  belief  regarding  the  divinity  of 
Christ,  and  that  the  examination  of  the  Old  Testament  among  other 
reasons  prevented  his  holding  this  belief.  In  the  face  of  this  nega- 
tive conviction  the  Emperor  wished  to  leave  no  doubt  regarding 
his  own  positive  conviction. 

We  must  thank  him  for  the  way  in  which  he  did  this.  It  is 
true,  the  reproof  which  Delitzsch  has  received  cannot  fail  to  be 
painful  to  him,  and  he  must  feel  deeply  his  being  excluded  from 
the  domain  of  theology  upon  which  the  Emperor  himself  now  en- 
ters. But  that  was  surely  not  the  intention  :  the  Emperor  means 
to  say,  and  he  is  right  in  so  saying,  that  Delitzsch's  authority  as  an 
Assyriologist  does  not  also  extend  to  his  theological  doctrines.  Be- 
yond this  he  concedes  absolute  freedom  to  the  convictions  of  the 
scholar. 

Absolute  freedom, — this  sentiment  shines  forth  from  the  Em- 
peror's utterances  with  pleasing  and  inspiring  effect.  He  has  no 
thought  of  issuing  a  peremptory  decree ;  the  whole  letter  is  per- 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  127 

meated  with  the  spirit  of  freedom.  He  knows  very  well  that  com- 
mands are  out  of  place  in  connection  with  these  delicate  and  sacred 
matters,  and  he  knows  that  theology  cannot  pass  by  these  ques- 
tions, but  that  they  must  be  treated  most  seriously,  with  liberty 
and  courage.      He  leaves  them  to  theological  science. 

But  still  more  pleasing  is  the  effect  of  the  positiveness,  the 
frankness  and  warmth  with  which  the  Emperor  himself  takes  his 
stand  in  these  matters.  What  he  has  written  is  from  the  depth  of 
his  heart ;  he  utters  it  just  as  he  thinks  and  feels  it,  and  he  has 
written  it  down  like  one  who  is  trying  to  take  account  of  his  own 
mind,  with  all  the  minute  marks  of  individual  feeling  and  individ- 
ual experience.  He  feels  his  soul  bound  to  Christ,  and  he  is  not 
willing  to  speak  of  religion  without  praising  him  and  confessing  his 
allegiance  to  him. 

The  Emperor's  utterance  professes  to  be  a  personal  confession 
of  faith,  and  as  such  it  deserves  respect.  But  it  would  certainly 
not  be  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  imperial  author  if  we 
were  to  give  no  other  response  than  silence.  In  the  Evangelical 
Church  the  ultimate  and  supreme  questions  are  always  open  to  dis- 
cussion, and  each  generation  must  work  out  the  answers  anew. 
Our  spiritual  life  also  depends  upon  crises  and  finds  its  very  vitality 
in  them.  How  should  we  be  silent  when  the  profoundest  and  most 
solemn  questions  challenge  us  in  this  form? 

All  Evangelical  Christians  will  frankly  and  joyfully  agree  with 
the  final  sentence  of  the  Emperor's  letter:  **  Religion  was  never 
the  result  of  science,  but  an  overflow  of  the  heart  and  being  of  man 
from  his  intercourse  with  God."  Theology  subscribes  to  this  prop- 
osition ;  it  knows  right  well  that  it  does  not  work  creativel}',  but 
merely  tries  to  follow  reverently  in  thought  something  that  already 
is. 

Not  less  will  be  the  general  accord  with  the  Emperor's  convic- 
tion that  religion  must  have  forms,  so  that  we  may  explain  our- 
selves and  give  mutual  instruction,  but  that  these  forms  cannot  be 
imperishable.  I  think  that  even  Professor  Delitzsch  has  attained 
the  capital  feature  of  his  purposes  in  the  concession  that  the  cus- 
tomary forms  of  the  current  school  traditions  regarding  the  Old 
Testament  are  in  urgent  need  of  change. 

But  questions  and  disputes  will  arise  chiefly  in  connection  with 
two  convictions  expressed  by  his  majesty :  the  theory  of  a  twofold 
revelation,  and  the  divinity  of  Christ.  And  the  two  are  closely  con- 
nected. 


128  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

The  difference  between  faith  and  science  in  connection  with 
religion  becomes  clear  immediately  on  the  mention  of  the  word 
"revelation."  Science  in  the  strictest  sense  cannot  admit  the  no- 
tion at  all,  finding  it  too  transcendental.  On  the  other  hand,  faith 
cannot  permit  itself  to  be  deprived  of  revelation.  But  in  the  course 
of  development  there  has  been  an  approach  between  the  two  sides. 
Aside  from  the  reverent  contemplation  of  the  universe  the  Evan- 
gelical faith  has  ceased  to  recognise  revelation  through  any  medi- 
ums but  persons.  The  whole  lower  series  of  alleged  revelations 
has  been  put  aside.  There  are  no  revelations  by  means  of  things. 
The  Emperor's  letter  also  took  this  ground  :  the  revelations  of  God 
in  his  humanity  are  persons,  especially  great  persons.  Now  in  so 
far  as  great  personages  have  their  mystery  even  for  science  in  their 
individuality  and  power,  in  so  far  harmony  is  established  between 
faith  and  science.  But  the  recognition  by  me  and  others  of  these 
personages  as  revelations  of  God  is  an  act  of  subjective  experience 
which  no  science  can  either  create  or  prevent. 

But  upon  this  common  ground  the  Emperor's  letter  distin- 
guishes two  sorts  of  revelation  :  a  general  one,  and  a  peculiarly  re- 
ligious one.  There  is  a  great  element  of  strength  in  this  distinc- 
tion, for  it  brings  out  vigorously  the  fact  that  there  is  no  more  seri- 
ous concern  for  man  than  his  relation  to  God,  and  that  everj^thing 
is  dependent  on  this  relationship.  But  on  the  other  hand,  the 
thinking  mind  cannot  possibly  repose  in  the  assumption  of  two 
revelations  running,  as  it  were,  parallel  with  each  other,  and  the 
imperial  letter  has  given  utterance  to  this  observation  by  putting 
Abraham  into  both  categories.  Accordingly  there  cannot  be  two 
revelations, — for  religion,  moral  force,  and  knowledge  stand  in  most 
intimate  union, — but  one  revelation,  the  bearers  of  which  were,  and 
still  are,  very  different  in  nature  and  greatness,  calling  and  function. 
If  Jesus  Christ  loses  nothing  of  his  individuality  and  uniqueness 
when  he  is  placed  in  the  series  with  Moses,  Isaiah,  and  tlie  psalm- 
ists, neither  does  he  suffer  by  the  comparison  when  we  see  him  in 
the  line  with  Socrates  and  Plato  and  the  others  who  are  mentiond 
in  the  Emperor's  letter.  The  religious  conception  of  history  must 
in  the  last  analysis  be  one  and  the  same:  it  must  be  mankind  led 
forth  by  God  out  of  the  state  of  primitive  nature,  out  of  error  and 
sin,  and  saved  and  brought  into  the  estate  of  the  children  of  God. 
Here,  however,  we  make  reservation  of  the  fact  that  the  divine  his- 
tory finds  its  specific  line  in  ancient  times  in  Israel. 

The   Christian   Church   must   reject  every  estimate   of   Christ 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  129 

which  ignores  the  difference  between  him  and  other  masters.  He 
himself,  his  disciples  and  the  history  of  the  world  have  spoken  so 
distinctly  on  this  point  that  there  should  be  no  room  for  doubt,  and 
he  still  speaks  to  us  in  his  word  as  distinctly  as  to  his  disciples  of 
old.  But  it  may  and  must  be  questioned  whether  the  inflexible 
formula  "divinity  of  Christ"  is  the  correct  one.  He  himself  never 
used  it,  but  chose  other  designations,  and  it  is  at  least  very  doubt- 
ful whether  any  of  his  disciples  ever  uttered  it.  And  the  early 
Church,  too,  did  not  speak  directly  of  the  divinity  of  Christ,  but 
always  of  his  divinity  and  humanity.  "God-man,"  therefore,  is  the 
only  correct  formula  even  in  the  intent  of  the  ancient  dogma.  In 
this  phrase  we  have  almost  restored  the  mystery  which  according 
to  the  will  of  Christ  himself  was  to  remain  in  this  matter.  He 
made  no  secret  of  the  fact  that  he  was  the  Lord  and  Saviour,  and 
his  disciples  were  expected  to  observe  and  experience  the  fact  in 
his  words  and  deeds.  But  how  his  relation  to  the  Father  arose, 
he  withheld  from  us  and  kept  to  himself.  In  my  historical  opinion, 
therefore,  and  according  to  my  feeling  in  the  matter,  even  the  for- 
mula "man  and  God"  (God-man-hood)  is  not  bej^ond  criticism, 
inasmuch  as  it  has  already  begun  to  intrude  upon  a  mystery  into 
which  we  are  not  permitted  to  look. 

But  the  formula  may  be  allowed  to  stand,  because  at  bottom  it 
does  not  pretend  to  explain  anything,  but  only  protects  the  extra- 
ordinary from  profanation,  just  as  does  the  expression  "Son  of 
God."  The  Pauline  expression  "God  was  in  Christ"  seems  to  me 
to  be  the  last  word  that  we  are  permitted  to  speak  in  this  matter, 
now  that  we  have  liberated  ourselves  slowl}^  and  painfully  from  the 
erroneous  notion  of  ancient  philosophers  that  we  can  penetrate  the 
mysteries  of  God  and  Nature,  humanity  and  history. 

"If  ye  love  me,  keep  my  commandments;"  "In  this  shall 
every  one  recognise  that  ye  are  my  disciples,  that  ye  love  one  an- 
another," — it  is  more  important  to  meditate  upon  these  words  and 
try  to  live  up  to  them  than  to  put  the  incomprehensible  and  the 
venerable  into  formulas.  The  time  is  coming  and  even  now  is  near 
when  Evangelical  Christians  will  join  hands  sincerely  in  the  con- 
fession of  Jesus  Christ  as  their  master  and  in  the  determination  to 
follow  his  words,  and  our  Catholic  brethren  will  then  be  obliged  to 
join  with  us  to  the  same  end.  The  burden  of  a  long  history  of  mis- 
understandings, of  formulas  that  bristle  like  swords,  of  tears  and 
blood,  weighs  upon  us,  but  in  it  there  is  also  preserved  to  us  a  pre- 
cious inheritance.      The   two   seem  to  be  united  inextricably,  but 


130  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

nevertheless  they  are  gradually  separating,  although  the  "Let  there 
be  light"  has  not  yet  been  spoken  across  this  chaos.  Frankness 
and  courage,  honesty  with  ourselves,  freedom  and  love, — these  are 
the  levers  which  will  lift  the  burden.  And  the  Emperor's  letter 
also  is  intended  to  aid  in  this  lofty  undertaking. 

M.   HALEVY'S  OPINION. 

M.  Joseph  Hal^vy,  the  French  coryphaeus  of  Oriental  research, 
born  December  15,  1827,  says  about  Babel  and  Bible:  "Sincerity 
nevertheless  compels  me  to  point  out  certain  inept,  inaccurate,  and 
redundant  statements  which  disfigure  this  otherwise  beautiful  lec- 
ture. The  meaning  of  Numbers  vi.  26  (page  29,  Babel  and  Bible) 
is  perfectly  clear  in  itself  and  parallel  to  the  passage  in  Job  xxii. 
26.  The  Babylonian  form  of  expression  adds  absolutely  nothing 
new.  There  is  not  a  vestige  of  a  proof  that  the  Ur  of  Kasdim,  the 
home  of  Abraham,  is  identical  with  the  city  of  Ur  of  Babylonia 
(page  4);  the  appellation  Kasdim  designates  in  the  Pentateuch 
'territory  which  is  exclusively  Aramean' ;  Babylonia  is  called  there 
'the  land  of  Sincar.'  To  make  a  princess  of  Arj^an  blood  and  blond 
complexion  out  of  the  wife  of  Sardanapalus,  of  whom  we  have  only 
an  old  and  hastily  executed  sketch;  to  call  the  converted  Jew  Jean 
Astruc  'zealously  orthodox'  (page  41);  to  attribute  to  the  Koran 
the  beautiful  legends  of  the  Talmud,  and  to  pass  over  almost  in 
silence  the  magnificent  results  of  the  French  excavations  in  Assyria 
and  Babylonia,  is  carrying  cleverness  to  an  unjustified  extreme. 
The  picture  (page  48)  of  the  First  Sin,  borrowed  from  Mdnant, 
and  the  comparison  of  the  destruction  of  Rahab,  a  name  for  Egypt 
(Psalms  Ixxiv.  13,  Ixxxix.  11;  Job  xxvi.  12),  with  the  splitting  in 
twain  of  the  body  of  the  chaotic  goddess  Tiamat  by  Marduk,  who 
made  of  it  the  earth  and  the  heavens,  will  not  stand  before  exami- 
nation. In  the  first  picture,  the  man  and  the  woman  who  are  seated 
opposite  each  other  on  the  two  sides  of  the  tree  are  extending 
toward  each  other  their  hands  and  are  not  gathering  the  fruit  that 
hangs  upon  the  lower  branches  of  the  tree  near  their  feet.  And 
furthermore,  the  undulating  line  behind  the  woman  is  not  beyond 
all  doubt  a  serpent.  The  same  disposition  to  rest  content  with 
superficial  appearances  shows  itself  in  the  interpretation  which  is 
put  upon  Figure  58,  page  64,  which  has  no  points  of  resemblance 
with  the  chariot  of  Ezekiel. 

"Must  it  be  repeated  for  the  tenth  time   that   the  institution  of 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  I3l 

Sunday  rest  is  nowhere  mentioned  in  cuneiform  literature?  The 
abstinences  prescribed  for  the  seventh,  fourteenth,  nineteenth  (an 
awkward  date  omitted  by  the  lecturer),  twenty-first,  and  twenty- 
eighth  days  of  the  second  Elud,  which  is  an  exceptional  month, 
have  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  Jewish  Sabbath? 

''Absolutely  fantastical  also  is  the  attribution  of  the  head  of  a 
patesi  or  priest-king  preserved  in  the  Berlin  Museum  to  the  imagi- 
nary and  undiscoverable  race  of  Sumerians  who,  although  the  origi- 
nators of  the  great  Babylonian  civilisation,  are  said  to  have  been 
unable  to  count  beyond  60  !  This  error  is  an  old  one;  the  number 
6  could  never  have  formed  a  primitive  multiple;  the  first  series 
obtained  by  actual  counting,  which  is  based  on  the  fingers  of  the 
hand,  finds  its  natural  termination  at  the  number  3  ;  Delitzsch  has 
confounded  instinctive  counting  with  the  artificial  or  scientific  mode 
ofi computation  by  6o's,  which  has  its  advantages.  We  must  deplore 
indeed  the  sad  lot  of  these  great  allophylian  creators  of  the  most 
ancient  civilisation  who  have  left  as  a  witness  of  their  vanished 
glory  only  a  single  head  of  stone,  fac-similies  of  which  can  be  found 
by  the  hundreds  in  real  flesh  and  blood  in  the  ghettos  of  Podolia 
and  Morocco. 

"But  the  acme  is  reached  in  the  following.  Delitzsch  affirmed 
in  his  Paradise  that  the  name  Yahveh  came  from  the  Sumerian  Y 
and  the  consonants  hvh.  He  now  declares, — and  this  is  the  culmi- 
nation of  his  lecture, — that  he  has  found  on  three  Babylonian  tab- 
lets names  belonging  to  Canaanites  establisJicd  in  Babylon,  and  com- 
posed of  the  element  Yahveh  (page  61).  Now,  the  spelling  of  the 
second  form,  j'^-?/-?/w-// (written  an),  signifies  in  good  Babylonian 
'Yaum  [with  mimmation  for  iauT=iam-mu,  Okeanos,  god  of  the  sea] 
is  god.'  The  first  form,  written  ia-ah-pi-il,  exhibits  a  general  Se- 
mitic name  Yahpcel  (El  covers,  protects,  '^>?r~-  analogous  to  ^??f"!). 
The  possible  reading  Yahvch-ill  ^o\\\(\  be  equivalent  to  the  Aramean 
^N""!:,  <God  exists,'  and  would  not  necessarily  signify  'Yahveh  is 
god.'  In  no  case  could  a  name  like  Yahveh-el  be  Canaanite-Phoe- 
nician  ;  for  these  people  express  the  verb  to  be  by  ^13,  and  not  by 

nin- 

"With  so  alluring  a  subject  and  before  an  audience  chosen 
from  among  the  highest  intellects  of  the  nation,  it  would  have  been 
more  prudent  to  limit  oneself  to  established  facts,  and  not  to  offer 
ephemeral  conjectures  which  can  serve  no  other  purpose  than  to 
dazzle  superficial  and  inquisitive  minds." 


132  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


CORNILL  ON   "BABEL  AND  BIBLE." 

^^  Babel  and  Bihie  offers  nothing  essentially  new  to  Old  Testa- 
ment scholars.  There  is  doubtless  not  a  single  professor  of  Old 
Testament  research  in  any  German  university  that  has  not  already 
told  all  these  things  to  his  students  in  his  lectures  on  Genesis.  And 
Delitzsch  does  not  gainsay  this.  He  maintains  only  that  the  world 
at  large  has  as  yet  heard  very  little  of  the  silent  labors  of  the  As- 
syriologists  and  that  it  is  now  time  for  this  knowledge  to  burst  the 
barriers  of  the  scholars'  study  and  enter  the  broad  path  of  life. 

"If  this  is  to  be  interpreted  as  an  aspersion  upon  us  scholars, 
it  may  be  answered  that  we  have  never  treated  this  knowledge  as 
an  esoteric  doctrine,  and  that  any  one  who  desired  any  information 
about  it  had  ample  opportunity  to  obtain  such,  and  further  that 
there  are  matters  and  problems  in  science  concerning  which  exces- 
sive discretion  is  the  lesser  evil.  Now,  in  the  exercise  of  this  nec- 
essary discretion  Delitzsch  has  been  extremely  c\\2.xy.  The  im- 
pression that  the  lecture  is  apt  to  make  on  unprofessional  readers 
is  that  the  Bible  and  its  religion  is  to  a  certain  extent  a  mere  off- 
shoot of  Babylonian  heathendom  which  we  have  'in  purer  and 
more  original  form'  in  Babel;  and  this  impression  is  intensified  by 
the  fact  that  Delitzsch  by  his  own  statements  actually  expects  from 
the  results  of  the  Assyrio-Babj'lonian  excavations  the  advent  of  a 
new  epoch  in  the  i7iierpretation  as  well  as  in  the  understanding  of 
the  Old  Testament.  I  shall  consider  Delitzsch's  statements  under 
this  point  of  view. 

"The  Babylonians  also  had  their  sJiahatiit,  he  says,  and  'there 
can  therefore  be  scarcely  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  that  in  the  last  re- 
sort we  are  indebted  to  this  ancient  nation  on  the  banks  of  the 
Euphrates  and  the  Tigris  for  the  plenitude  of  blessings  that  flows 
from  our  day  of  Sabbath  or  Sunday  rest.'  What  now  was  this 
Babylonian  shabaitu'i  Not  the  seventh  day  of  each  week,  for  the 
Babylonians  regarded  the  seventh,  fourteenth,  nineteenth,  twenty- 
first,  and  twenty-eighth  calendar  days  of  every  month  as  days  in 
which  no  work  could  be  done;  and  for  what  reason?  For  fear  of 
the  wrath  of  the  gods.  These  were  the  days  that  the  Romans 
called  dies  airi,  and  are  we  now  to  believe  that  these  dies  atri  of  the 
Babylonians,  which  were  inseparably  linked  with  the  dates  of  the 
calendar,  are  our  Biblical  Sabbath?  Never!  The  Sabbath  as  the 
'day  of  the   Lord,'  the  view  that  on  one  day  in  every  week  we 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  133 

should  cast  aside  all  the  trials  and  tribulations  of  our  earthly  life 
and  live  for  God  alone  and  be  happy  in  communion  with  Him,  is 
exclusively  the  property  of  the  Bible,  and  for  the  'plenitude  of 
blessings'  contained  in  it  the  world  is  indebted,  not  to  Babel,  but 
to  Bible. 

"We  have  long  known  that  the  Biblical  story  of  the  Creation 
(Genesis  i. )  reposed  on  a  Babylonian  foundation;  but  the  only 
genuinely  religious  and  imperishable  fact  of  this  history,  the  al- 
mighty God,  creator  of  heaven  and  earth,  who  speaks  and  it  comes 
to  pass,  who  commands  and  it  is  so,  the  holy  personal  God,  who 
created  man  in  his  own  image  and  entrusted  him  with  the  duties 
attendant  upon  morality  and  a  religious  life,  was  given  to  the 
world,  not  by  Babel,  but  by  Bible. 

"And  how  is  it  with  the  story  of  Paradise  and  the  Fall  of  Man 
(Genesis  ii.  and  iii.)?  Delitzsch  reproduces  on  page  48  the  well- 
known  ancient  Babylonian  clay  cylinder  which  is  said  to  contain  a 
pictorial  representation  of  this  story.  Assyriologists  of  the  stand- 
ing of  Oppert,  M^nant,  Hal^vy,  and  Tiele  vigorously  contest  this 
interpretation,  even  explaining  the  figures  on  the  cylinder  as  two 
men,  and  are  absolutely  unable  to  recognise  a  serpent  in  the  undu- 
latory  line  in  this  picture.  No  Babylonian  text  corresponding  to 
Genesis  iii.  has  yet  been  discovered,  and  if  the  reader  of  page  38 
of  Delitzsch's  book  imagines  that  the  clay  tablet  there  mentioned 
containing  'the  Babylonian  legend  of  how  it  came  to  pass  that  the 
first  man  forfeited  the  boon  of  immortality'  is  the  Biblical  story  of 
Genesis  iii.,  'in  much  purer  and  more  primitive  form,'  I  have  only 
to  say  that  he  is  sorely  mistaken.  But  even  granting  that  such  is 
the  case  and  that  it  has  been  proved  that  the  Babylonians  had  a 
story  according  to  which  the  first  woman,  tempted  by  the  serpent, 
ate  of  the  forbidden  fruit  and  thereby  brought  sin  and  death  into 
the  world,  it  will  be  distinctly  seen  from  the  picture  that,  leaving 
everything  else  out  of  account,  the  Babylonian  pair  are  clothed,  and 
that  therefore  what  is  perhaps  the  profoundest  and  most  significant 
feature  of  the  story  of  Genesis  iii.  belongs  to  Bible,  and  not  to 
Babel. 

"The  conception  of  angels  is  without  doubt  'characteristically 
Babylonian.'  But  whether  they  are  also  such  in  the  Biblical  sense 
as  so  grandly  expressed  in  Psalms  xci,  verses  11  and  12,  and  in  the 
utterance  of  Jesus,  Matthew  xviii.  10,  is  another  question.  In  the 
Biblical  representations  Babylonian  angels  and  eunuchs  surround 
only  the  throne  of  the  great  king.     And    before  Delitzsch  wrote 


134  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

(page  55)  his  remarks  concerning  the  demons  and  the  devils  which 
he  says  were  possible  only  for  the  ancient  Persian  dualism,  an-d 
were  so  destined  to  be  committed  forever  and  aye  to  the  obscurity 
of  the  Babylonian  hills  from  which  they  rose,  he  should  have  re- 
called to  mind  the  important  role  which  these  concepts  played  in 
the  religious  life  of  Jesus,  so  that  we  might  be  justified  in  saying 
that  there  are  'still  many  Babylonian  traits  clinging  even  to  the  re- 
ligious thoughts'  of  Jesus.  But  these  concepts  in  the  Bible  are  no 
Parsee  importation  ;  for  the  Bible  can  think  of  Satan  and  his  an- 
gels under  no  other  form  than  that  of  creatures  of  God  who  had 
fallen  through  their  own  sins  and  who  stand  thus  on  the  most  essen- 
tial point  in  the  sharpest  imaginable  contrast  with  the  afore-men- 
tioned Persian  dualism.  And  does  Delitzsch  mean  to  say,  when 
he  affirms  that  the  5th,  6th,  and  7th  commandments  occur  'in  pre- 
cisely the  same  order'  in  the  Babylonian  records,  that  Moses,  or 
whoever  else  composed  the  Decalogue,  sought  advice  from  Babel, 
in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  the  order  of  the  treasures  which  man 
seeks  to  protect,  namely,  life,  famil}^  and  property,  could  not  pos- 
sibly be  more  natural  and  obvious,  and  that  the  humane  Baby- 
lonian commandments  have  also  their  parallel  in  the  Egyptian 
Book  of  the  Dead  ? 

"And  how  do  matters  stand  with  the  Biblical  problems  con- 
cerning which  we  are  led  to  believe  that  Babel  only  can  explain 
Bible?  Delitzsch  sees  in  the  Bible  Amraphel  of  Genesis  xiv.  the 
great  Babylonian  king  Hammurabi,  the  founder  of  the  old  Baby- 
lonian kingdom.  I  shall  not  gainsay  that  this  identification  is  pos- 
sible;  and  since  Amraphel  was  'the  contemporary  of  Abraham'  we 
shall  certainly  be  glad  to  reckon  the  period  of  Abraham  by  that  of 
Hammurabi.  But  if  we  consult  the  Assyriologists  we  shall  find 
that  in  fixing  the  chronological  place  of  the  fifty-five  years  of  the 
reign  of  this  king  they  vary  between  2394-2339  B.  C.  and  1923- 
1868  B.  C,  with  all  the  intermediate  possibilities.  From  the  point 
of  view  of  method,  therefore,  is  it  not  better  to  follow  the  plan  of 
the  Assyriologist  Hommel,  who,  convinced  of  the  correctness  of 
the  equation  Amraphel  ^Hammurabi,  as  of  the  historical  authen- 
ticity of  the  events  narrated  in  Genesis  xiv.,  starts,  contrariwise, 
from  the  Bible  and  moulds  the  Babylonian  chronology  until  it  ac- 
cords with  the  Biblical? 

"Delitzsch's  statements  (page  61)  concerning  the  three  clay 
tablets  containing  the  name  of  Yahveh  are  quite  new.  I  cannot 
revive  here,  much  less  resolve,  the  question  of  the  original  mono- 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  135 

theism  of  the  Semites,  or  at  least  of  'the  old  Canaanite  races  which 
settled  in  Babylonia  2500  years  before  Christ,  and  to  whom  Ham- 
murabi himself  belonged';  but  I  have  to  confess  that  I  cherish  the 
gravest  doubts  concerning  the  correctness  of  the  meaning  of  these 
tablets,  or  at  any  rate  of  the  interpretation  of  the  names  Ya-ah-ve- 
ilu  and  Ya-hu-um-ilu.  Of  names  containing  the  proper  names  of  a 
god,  and  asserting  additionally  that  this  god  is  God,  there  are  no 
instances  whatever  among  the  thousands  of  Semitic  proper  names 
which  we  know.  Even  the  well-known  Biblical  y(5'^/ does  not  mean 
'Yahveh  is  God.'  But  even  granting  that  these  old  'Canaanites' 
did  possess  the  theophorous  name  Yahu,  is  this  any  proof  that  they 
also  possessed  the  Biblical  concept  of  Yahveh?  How  does  it  hap- 
pen that  of  these  'monotheistic'  kings  one  is  called  Sinmu-ballit 
which  means  'Sin  gives  life,'  and  another  is  Samsu-iluna,  which 
means  'the  sun  is  our  god.' 

"There  are  also  other  evidences  \n  Babel  and  Bible  that  De- 
litzsch's  statements  must  be  accepted  with  reserve.  We  read  on 
page  50:  'In  the  Book  of  Job  (xxiv.  18),  which  appears  to  be  ex- 
tremely conversant  with  Babylonian  modes  of  thought,  we  find 
comparisons  drawn  (xxiv.  18  et  seq. )  between  the  arid,  waterless 
desert  which  is  reserved  for  those  that  have  sinned,  and  the  garden 
with  fresh,  clear  water  which  is  reserved  for  the  pious.'  I  believe 
that  I  also  am  tolerably  well  acquainted  with  the  Book  of  Job,  and 
I  was  consequently  not  a  little  astonished  at  reading  these  words, 
for  as  a  matter  of  fact  there  is  absolutely  nothing  of  the  kind  in  Job 
xxiv.  18,  and  if  Delitzsch  possibly  introduced  this  meaning  into 
the  passage  conjecturally,  it  was  entirely  inadmissible  on  his  part 
to  deal  with  it  as  with  something  that  had  been  absolutely  estab- 
lished. 

"Again,  the  passage  on  pages  51-52  concerning  Mahomet's 
Paradise, — namely:  '  Two  and  seventy  of  these  Paradisian  maidens 
may  every  god-fearing  man  choose  unto  himself,  in  addition  to  the 
wives  that  he  possessed  on  earth,  provided  he  cares  to  have  them 
(and  the  good  man  will  always  cherish  desire  for  the  good),' — is 
not  to  be  found  at  all  in  the  Koran,  but  has  been  taken  from  E.  W. 
Lane's  Ct4stoms  arid  Manners,  part  I.,  page  59,  of  the  German  trans- 
lation. 

"We  are  delighted  and  proud  that  Germany  also  is  at  last 
taking  an  independent  part  in  the  excavations  in  the  valle}^  of  the 
Euphrates.  But  in  entering  upon  this  undertaking  it  is  only  ful- 
filling a  national  obligation  of  honor  toward  the  educated  world, 


136  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

and  no  one  could  entertain  greater  sympathy  with  these  labors  or 
wish  them  greater  success  than  we  theological  investigators  of  the 
Old  Testament,  for  we  know  the  light  which  will  be  shed  from  that 
source  upon  the  object  of  our  studies.  But  we  are  far  from  be- 
lieving that  a  new  interpretation  of  the  Old  Testament  will  ever  be 
brought  to  pass  by  these  investigations,  nay  we  are  firmly  con- 
vinced that  in  the  struggle  between  Babel  and  Bible  the  Bible  will 
ultimately  come  out  victorious.  Gunkel  spoke  for  us  all  when  he 
said  : 

"  'How  incomparably  superior  the  Hebrew  legend  is  to  the 
Babylonian  !  Should  we  not  really  be  delighted  at  having  found 
in  this  Babylonian  parallel  a  criterion  for  estimating  the  real  sub- 
limity of  the  conception  of  God  in  Israel, — a  conception  of  so  much 
intrinsic  power  that  it  can  purge  and  recast  in  such  a  manner  ma- 
terial so  repellent  and  outlandish?  And  this  also  we  may  say,  that 
the  Babylonian  legend  strongly  impresses  us  by  its  barbaric  charac- 
ter, whereas  the  Hebrew  legend  is  far  nearer  and  more  human  to 
us.  Even  granting  that  we  have  been  accustomed  from  childhood 
to  the  Hebrew  legends,  we  yet  learn  from  this  example  that  in  our 
whole  world  of  ideas  we  owe  far  more  to  these  Hebrews  than  to  the 
Babylonians." 

The  same  theologian  wrote  to  the  editors  of  The  Open  Court 
after  the  appearance  of  Professor  Delitzsch's  First  Lecture  as  fol- 
lows :  "You  are  to  be  commended  for  having  made  the  American 
public  acquamted  with  Delitzsch's  Babel  and  Bible,  for  the  little 
book  contains  an  extraordinary  amount  of  stimulating  and  instruc- 
tive matter,  and  it  has  been  cleverly  constructed,  so  as  to  appeal 
at  once  to  the  great  reading  public.  Yet  while  there  is  no  direct 
polemical  attack  made  in  it  against  the  Bible,  you  will  nevertheless 
understand  that  we  theologians  have  witnessed  the  appearance  of 
this  essay  and  the  great  sensation  which  it  has  made  with  solici- 
tude, nay  even  with  distress ;  for  the  impression  which  it  is  inevi- 
tably destined  to  make  on  the  unprepared  reader  is  one  that  we 
could  never  wish  to  see." 

A  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  VERDICT. 

The  Catholic  Neius  of  New  York,  a  journal  "recommended  by 
the  Catholic  hierarchy  and  the  clergy  as  a  model  family  paper," 
takes  the  following  view  of  the  situation:  "The  school  of  which 
Professor  Dclitzsch  is  a  distinguished  member  is  by  no  means  pre- 
occupied about  establishing  the  veracity  of  the  Bible.      The  gene- 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  137 

ral  purport  of  this  lecture  is  to  indicate  that  the  Bible  has  borrowed 
almost  all  its  religious  and  moral  elements  from  the  pagan  Assyrians 
and  Babylonians,  and  that  it  is  merely  a  human  compilation.  The 
success  which  has  attended  the  propagation  of  this  view  is  to  be  seen 
in  the  total  disintegration  of  all  Protestant  behef.  It  is  the  climax 
of  irony  that  the  sects  which  broke  away  from  the  Catholic  Church 
with  the  cry,  'A  free  Bible;  the  Bible  is  the  sole  rule  of  faith,' 
are  to-day  giving  up  all  supernatural  belief  because  they  have  lost 
faith  in  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible,  consequent  upon  the  attacks 
of  the  higher  criticism.  Meanwhile  the  Catholic  Church  stands  un- 
disturbed on  her  old  platform.  The  Catholic  repeats  the  profession 
of  St.  Augustine:  'I  would  not  accept  the  Bible  except  on  the  au- 
thority of  the  Church.'  He  is  confident  that  in  the  long  run,  when 
all  facts  have  been  garnered  and  after  hasty  theories  shall  have 
been  tried  and  found  wanting,  the  light  thrown  by  science  on  all 
the  complications  of  the  Biblical  question  will  serve  to  corroborate 
the  authoritative  teaching  of  the  Catholic  Church,  whose  more  than 
human  prudence  is  nowhere  more  conspicuous  than  in  her  few 
guarded  but  comprehensive  declarations  concerning  the  fact  and 
the  nature  of  inspiration.  Students  who  may  not  have  time  to 
study  larger  volumes  dealing  with  Assyriology  will  find  this  little 
book  a  handy  one  to  consult  for  the  interpretation  given  to  many 
archaeological  discoveries  by  the  representatives  of  the  higher  criti- 
cism." 

ALFRED  JEREMIAS  ON  DELITZSCH.i 

Alfred  Jeremias,  in  an  interesting  pamphlet  bearing  the  title 
Itn  Kampfe  um  Babel  und  Bibel,  thoroughly  reviews  the  situation 
and  calls  attention  from  another  point  of  view  to  this  very  topic. 
Confuting  the  expressions  of  fear  that  Assyriological  science  is 
shaking  the  foundations  of  the  sanctuary  of  Holy  Scriptures,  he 
remarks  that  it  is  strange  the  situation  has  been  so  completely  re- 
versed with  years.  In  the  first  periods  of  Assyriological  research, 
the  inscriptions  on  the  excavated  monuments  were  stridently  ad- 
duced as  evidence  in  corroboration  of  the  traditional  views  of  the 
Bible.  It  was  triumphantly  proclaimed  that  now  (Luke  xix.  40) 
the  very  bricks  of  Babylon  cried  out  in  confirmation  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  and  the  world  should  hold  its  peace.  Exact  copies  of 
the  writings  of   Moses  and  the  children  of  Israel  during  their  so- 

1  Written  by  Thomas  J.  McCormack.     Extracted  from  The  Open  Court,  Vol.  XVII.,  No.  3,  pp. 
130-132. 


138  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

journ  in  the  desert  were  supposedly  recovered  from  Nabataean  in- 
scriptions; the  historical  existence  of  Abraham  was  confirmed  by  a 
brick ;  and  the  wall  was  actually  discovered  on  which  Belshazzar 
saw  written  the  fateful  words,  Mcne  mene  tekel  upharsin  ! 

But  in  Herr  Jeremias's  opinion  the  use  of  Assyriology  as  a 
weapon  of  destructive  criticism  for  the  overthrow  of  the  traditional 
Bible  is  just  as  wicked  as  the  preceding  specimens  of  its  applica- 
tion are  stupid.  One  very  advanced  critic,  cited  by  Jeremias,  goes 
so  far  even  as  to  wish  for  the  time  when  the  bricks  of  Babylon  shall 
compel  a  more  truthful  view  of  the  Old  Testament,  shall  shatter  in 
shards  the  doctrine  of  inspiration,  and  pave  the  way  for  a  deeper, 
more  spiritual,  and  more  "pious"  conception.  Verily,  Babel  Jias 
"laid  her  mailed  fist  on  the  Old  Testament." 

But  we  need  have  no  fear.  Orthodoxy  and  piety  may  yet  lie 
down  in  harmonious  union  with  Assyriology ;  and  Herr  Jeremias, 
who  takes  both  the  strictly  religious  and  the  strictly  scientific  view, 
well  expresses  the  terms  of  the  compromise  as  follows:  "In  so  far 
as  the  Old  Testament  as  a  document  of  God's  education  of  the  hu- 
man race  may  lay  claim  to  being  a  fides  divina,  it  stands  in  no  need 
of  corroboration  by  any  auxiliary  science.  Here  Babel  can  never 
promote  the  comprehension  of  the  Old  Testament,  nor  put  it  to 
hazard  in  any  way,  be  the  philological  and  scientific  imbroglio  what 
it  may.  Any  ten  of  the  marked  passages  of  Luther's  Bible  are  suf- 
ficient to  demonstrate^  how  superior  the  spirit  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment is  to  that  of  Babylon.  But  the  Old  Testament  has  also  its 
human  side, — a  side  so  stupendously  interesting  that  no  literature 
of  antiquity  can  be  mentioned  with  it  in  the  same  breath.  Much 
of  this  remained  obscure  so  long  as  the  historical  and  cultural 
framework  in  which  the  life  of  Israel  was  enacted  was  veiled.  But 
now  the  world  around  about  Canaan  is  flooded  with  light;  we  can 
contemplate  the  people  of  the  Old  Testament  in  their  relationship 
with  the  political  and  cultural  conditions  out  of  which  it  evolved 
and  which  have  exerted  a  determining  influence  upon  its  destinies. 
In  this  domain  cuneiform  research  can  perform  important  services 
for  the  comprehension  of  the  Bible.  But  the  imperishable  jewel 
which  Israel  possesses  will  shine  only  more  brilliantly  under  this 
illumination,  and  likewise  \\iQ.  fides  Jiumana  upon  which  this  unique 
book  of  literature  rests  its  claims  will  stand  triumphantly  the  ordeal 
of  fire  to  which  it  has  been  subjected." 

IThe  most  significant  passages  of  the  Bible  are  printed  in  Luther's  translation  in  bold-faced 
type. 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  139 

There  has  been  little  criticism  of  Delitzsch's  book  from  the 
side  of  the  Assyriologists  proper.  There  are  many  points  on  which 
all  Assyriological  inquirers  do  not  agree,  but  upon  the  whole  it  is 
the  universal  verdict  of  the  Assyriologists  that  Delitzsch's  lecture 
"gives,  so  far  as  the  monuments  are  concerned,  those  facts  that 
may  be  regarded  as  indubitably  established  results  of  cuneiform  in- 
quiry." And  the  advantage  in  the  bout  will  doubtless  also  remain 
with  Delitzsch.  For  in  purely  technical  and  Assyriological  matters 
it  is  with  him,  as  opposed  to  most  of  his  theological  critics,  a  case 
of  Krupp  guns  against  "halberds  and  blunderbusses." 

HIGHER  CRITICISM  AND  THE  EMPEROR. 

BY  DR.   PAUL  CARUS. 
Manager  of  The  Open  Court  Publishing  Co. 

Emperor  William  criticises  Delitzsch  for  "abandoning  the 
standpoint  of  the  strict  historian"  and  "straying  into  religious  and 
historical  conclusions  and  hypotheses  which  are  quite  nebulous  and 
bold."  He  says  that  "Delitzsch  the  theologian  has  run  away  with 
Delitzsch  the  historian." 

The  Emperor  means  to  say  that  in  his  historical  research  work 
Delitzsch  is  carried  away  by  his  liberal  theological  views ;  but  the 
case  is  probably  just  the  reverse.  Professor  Delitzsch,  the  son  of 
an  equally  famous  Hebrew  scholar  and  a  pious  Christian,  was  from 
the  start  an  orthodox  theologian,  and  his  theology  was  modified 
under  the  influence  of  his  historical  investigations.  The  Emperor, 
who  still  clings  to  the  old  conception,  concedes  that  "the  Old  Tes- 
tament contains  many  sections  which  are  of  a  purely  human  and  his- 
torical nature,"  and  goes  even  so  far  as  to  add  that  they  "are  tiot 
God's  revealed  word."  He  declares  "that  the  legislative  act  on 
Sinai,  for  example,  can  only  be  symbolically  regarded  as  inspired 
of  God."  Apparently  the  Emperor  makes  a  difference  between  the 
Jewish  and  the  Christian  Scriptures,  and  in  this  sense  he  says  : 
"Neither  does  it  matter  that  much  of  the  nimbus  of  the  chosen 
people  will  thereby  disappear." 

The  Emperor's  letter  is  an  important  document  in  the  evolu- 
tion of  religion.  He  is  a  pronounced  upholder  of  militant  and 
pious  Protestantism,  and  his  views  may  be  regarded  as  typical  for 
large  classes  of  all  Protestant  denominations. 

The  struggle  over  Babel  and  Bible  opens  to  the  Christian  laity 
a  period  of  discussion  concerning  the  nature  of  the  Old  Testament 
which  is  bound  to  lead  to  an  investigation  of  the  New  Testament. 


140  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

The  battle  concerning  the  Old  Testament  is  as  good  as  ended. 
Whether  or  not  Delitzsch  is  right  in  his  sundry  contentions  as  to 
the  names  "El"  and  "Yahveh,"  the  identification  of  the  Ruins  of 
Mugheir  with  the  home  of  Abraham,  and  his  interpretation  of  Baby- 
lonian seal-cylinders,  is  quite  indifferent.  The  essential  point  lies 
deeper  and  there  is  no  need  to  conceal  it.  No  one  who  has  investi- 
gated the  subject  will  any  longer  deny  that  the  Old  Testament  is 
the  product  of  an  historical  evolution.  Of  course,  it  is  Jewish,  not 
Babylonian  ;  nevertheless,  the  Babylonian  civilisation  forms  the 
background,  and  many  things  which  were  formerly  believed  to 
have  been  dictated  by  the  Holy  Ghost  are  now  seen  to  be  the  nat- 
ural outcome  of  historical  conditions.  But  on  that  account  the 
nimbus  of  the  chosen  people  will  no  more  disappear  than  the  glory 
of  Homer,  and  Phidias,  and  Pericles,  and  Socrates  can  be  dimmed 
because  we  can  trace  their  greatness  to  conditions  and  understand 
how  they  naturally  grew  and  rose  into  being. 

The  old  narrow  view  cannot  be  abandoned  at  once,  and  many 
intermediate  steps  are  being  taken  which  attempt  compromises.  So 
we  read  for  instance  in  the  interesting  pamphlet  of  Alfred  Jeremias 
that  we  must  grant  the  prevalence  of  a  monotheism  among  the  pa- 
gan nations  long  before  the  rise  of  Israel  as  a  nation.  Hammurabi, 
for  instance,  a  contemporary  of  Abraham  who  lived  more  than  half 
a  millennium  before  Moses,  introduces  his  code  of  laws  with  the 
invocation,  "Thus  speaketh  ILU  SIRU,  i.  e.,  God  the  Supreme." 
"But,"  adds  Professor  Jeremias,  "there  is  this  difference  between 
the  pagan  monotheism  which  can  be  traced  among  all  the  nations, 
and  Hebrew  monotheism,  that  'God  himself  filled  the  latter  with 
his  own  revelation."  In  other  words,  when  Plato  speaks  of  God, 
we  have  to  deal  with  a  purely  human  speculation,  but  when  David 
danced  before  the  ark  of  the  Lord  we  are  expected  to  believe  that 
then  God  was  personally  present. 

The  truth  is,  we  are  familiar  with  the  Hebrew  view,  for  our 
own  belief  has  developed  out  of  it.  We  are  not  so  familiar  with 
pagan  views.  Therefore  when  Zarathustra  speaks  of  Ahura  Mazda, 
the  Lord  Omniscient,  we  admire  his  wisdom,  but  fail  to  find  any 
connection  with  our  own  belief.  The  term  sounds  strange  to  our 
ears  because  it  remains  unassociated  with  our  prayers  and  has  no 
relation  to  the  traditions  that  have  become  sacred  to  us.  It  ap- 
pears as  the  natural  product  of  human  thought,  while  the  Hebrew 
names  Jehovah,  Zebaoth,  Elohim,  even  when  the  context  betrays 
a  pagan  or  even  polytheistic  conception,  are  filled  with  a  sanctity 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  141 

and  a  religious  awe  that  is  to  us  the  evidence  of  a  supernatural 
revelation. 

How  true  this  is  appears  from  the  fact  that  the  original  and 
correct  form  Yahveh,  which  is  not  used  in  our  churches,  does  not 
possess  the  same  sacred  ring  to  our  ears  as  the  corrupted  form  Je- 
hovah. The  name  Yahveh  is  written  in  our  brains,  not  in  our 
hearts.  Yahveh  is  the  name  of  a  deity  with  which  we  have  become 
acquainted  through  the  study  of  Hebrew  literature,  and  we  would 
deem  it  all  but  a  sacrilege,  a  kind  of  paganism,  to  pray  to  Yahveh 
or  to  sing  hymns  to  him.  The  word  Jehovah,  an  unmeaning  and 
positively  nonsensical  combination  of  the  consonants  of  the  word 
"Jahveh,"  with  the  vowels  of  another,  "Adonai,"  was  invented  in 
the  days  of  Luther.  It  was  unknown  before  the  year  1519;  but 
having  slipped  into  our  prayers,  we  still  sing  the  triumphal  strain, 
"Jehovah  is  King." 

When  we  become  acquainted  with  the  monotheism  of  Ham- 
murabi, we  put  him  down  as  a  philosopher,  but  the  God  of  Moses 
is  the  same  God  to  whom  Christians  bend  the  knee.  That  makes 
a  difference.  The  associations  with  our  own  religious  life,  our 
forms  of  worship,  our  prayers,  are  important  for  obvious  psycho- 
logical reasons. 

Through  Delitzsch,  the  Emperor  became  familiar  with  the  re- 
ligion of  ancient  Babylon,  and  he  took  a  liking  to  the  Assyrians. 
The  Assyrian  guards  were  so  much  like  the  Prussian  grenadiers; 
their  kings  were  generals  enjoying  the  display  of  armies  ;  they  be- 
lieved in  the  religion  of  the  mailed  fist  and  bestowed  much  atten- 
tion upon  military  attire,  even  as  to  the  minute  details  of  hair- 
dressing.  While  the  Emperor's  court  barber  patented  the  fashion 
of  an  upturned  mustache  under  the  name  Es  ist  crreicht,  which 
means  "surpassing  all,"  Delitzsch  speaks  of  the  official  style  of 
the  Assyrian  beard  as  Noch  uicht  erreicht,  i.  e.,  "still  unsurpassed." 
Whether  Delitzsch  intended  the  joke  or  was  serious  in  making  this 
comparison  we  have  no  means  to  tell.  Certainly  the  similarities 
were  so  many  and  so  striking  that  the  Emperor  felt  the  thrill  of 
kinship  and  showed  himself  willing  to  transfer  the  nimbus  from 
the  chosen  people  to  the  rulers  of  ancront  Babylon. 

Truly,  the  Emperor  is  right  when  he  says  that  '*God  reveals 
himself  continuously  in  the  race  of  men."  It  is  a  good  old  doc- 
trine, and  orthodox  too,  that  "God  spoke  not  to  Moses  alone,"  and 
St.  John  the  Evangelist  says  that  "that  was  the  true  light  which 
lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world." 


142  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

But  it  is  natural  that  Christians  raised  in  the  traditional  dog- 
matism should  shrink  from  the  idea  that  the  New  Testament  (as 
well  as  the  Old)  should  be  conceded  to  be  the  product  of  historical 
conditions.  "Here,"  they  argue,  "Christ  speaks  himself,"  and  (to 
use  the  Emperor's  own  words)  "Christ  is  God,  God  in  human  form 
. .  .  .We  have  in  Him  God's  revealed  word,  and  He  never  lies." 

Certainly,  God  never  lies.  But  do  we  have  in  the  New  Testa- 
tnent  Christ's  own  words?  We  have  reports  about  Jesus,  and  these 
reports  are  as  human  as  are  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament. 
Christianity  would  be  in  a  sad  plight  if  the  New  Testament  had  in- 
deed to  be  regarded  as  inspired  verbatim  by  God.  We  cannot  en- 
ter here  into  details  but  would  suggest  only  that  the  mere  contra- 
victions  in  the  Gospels  alone  force  us  to  look  upon  them  as  human 
compositions. 

The  difficulties  of  regarding  the  Bible  as  literally  the  word  of 
God  are  almost  greater  in  the  New  Testament  than  in  the  Old. 
Any  one  who  has  studied  the  Scriptures  knows  that  the  problem  is 
grave  and  cannot  be  easily  disposed  of. 

The  great  question  back  of  all  these  discussions  is  simply  this  • 
"Shall  we,  or  shall  we  not,  grant  Science  the  right  io  modify  Re- 
ligion?" And  the  question  need  not  be  answered.  Men  of  science 
know  that  whether  or  not  we  grant  science  the  right  to  modify  reli- 
gion, science  is  shedding  her  light  upon  religious  problems,  and 
she  is  constantly  and  continuously  modifying  religion.  Science 
(represented  in  physics,  astronomy,  physiology,  psychology,  his- 
tory, text-criticism,  etc.,  etc.)  has  enlarged  our  view  of  the  world 
and  deepened  our  conception  of  God.  The  scientific  spirit  of  the 
age  has  begotten  a  new  theology,  a  truly  scientific  treatment  of  the 
problems  of  God,  inspiration,  and  revelation,  which  we  call  theon- 
omy,  for  it  ranges  as  high  above  the  antiquated  theology  as  astron- 
omy is  superior  to  astrology.^ 

After  all,  Christians  are  not  pledged  to  dogmas,  but  to  the 
truth.  Orthodoxy  means  the  right  doctrine,  and  the  right  doctrine 
is  that  which  can  stand  the  test  of  critique.  Orthodoxy  so  called 
is  a  misnomer  and  ought  to  be  called  dogmatism.  The  truth  can 
be  found  only  by  searching,  and  the  methods  of  an  exact  search 
are  called  science. 

Science  is  not  human  ;   science  is  divine,  and   the  development 

ICf.  the  writer's  articles  "Theology  as  a  Science  "  in  The  Monist,  \'o\.  XII.,  No.  4,  and  Vol 
XIII.,  No.  I. 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  143 

of  science  is  the  coming  of  the  spirit  of  God, — of  the  true  God,  of 
the  God  of  Truth,  who  is  "the  light  that  lighteth  every  man." 

The  dogmas  of  Christianity  are  formulations  of  the  Truth  as 
interpreted  by  our  forefathers.  Let  no  Athanasius  with  his  limited 
knowledge  bind  the  conscience  of  a  Delitzsch.  Had  Delitzsch  lived 
in  the  days  of  the  Alexandrian  church-father,  he  would  most  likely 
have  acquiesced  in  the  Nicene  formulation  of  the  Christian  creed ; 
but  new  issues  have  arisen  and  some  of  the  traditional  beliefs  have 
become  untenable.  Dogmas  may  be  venerable  on  account  of  their 
antiquity,  but  they  cannot  stand  against  Truth.  Truth  alone  is 
holy,  and  the  Truth  of  Science  will  finally  win  the  day. 

The  struggle  for  Babel  and  Bible  is  important  not  on  its  own 
account  but  because  it  forces  upon  us  in  a  new  form  the  issue  of 
Science  versus  Faith,  and  compels  us  to  revise  our  conception  of  the 
nature  of  divine  revelation.  It  is  a  mere  skirmish  which  will  soon 
be  followed  by  the  more  important  struggle  over  the  Gospels.  The 
issues  at  stake  are  graver  there,  and  thus  we  anticipate  that  the 
latter  will  be  a  more  bitter  and  obdurate  battle.  The  main  histor- 
ical questions  of  Christianity  lie  in  the  New  Testament,  and  though 
Assyriology  contributes  its  goodly  share  toward  the  solution  of  the 
religious  problem,  it  is  after  all  a  side  issue  only,  which  must  be 
complemented  by  work  along  other  lines  of  research. 

Delitzsch  sums  up  his  position  in  these  words :  "  Do  not  let 
us  blindly  cling  to  dogmas  which  science  has  shown  to  be  super- 
annuated, merely  for  fear  of  abandoning  them.  Faith  in  God  and 
the  true  religion  may  thereby  be  injured." 

Whatever  the  final  result  of  the  present  discussion  shall  be, 
we  may  rest  assured  that  the  modification  of  our  religious  faith  will 
not  be  for  the  worse.  Christianity  has  again  and  again  adapted  it- 
self to  a  more  scientific  conception  of  the  world.  How  strong  was 
the  opposition  of  the  so-called  orthodox  to  the  Copernican  system, 
how  fierce  were  their  attacks  on  the  doctrine  of  evolution  !  But 
that  is  now  a  matter  of  the  past,  and  religion  has  certainly  been 
broadened  as  well  as  deepened  by  a  broader  and  deeper  insight 
into  the  constitution  of  nature. 

The  task  of  the  theology  of  to-day  is  a  reconstruction  of  our 
conception  of  Christianity  upon  a  strictly  scientific  basis.  In  the 
background  of  the  several  historical  questions  there  is  looming  up 
the  struggle  for  a  scientific  world-conception,  and  rightly  considered, 
the  philosophical  problem  is  the  main  issue  which  over-shadows  all 
others. 


144  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  foresee  the  final  result  of  the  whole  move- 
ment. It  will  not  lead  to  a  destruction  of  religion,  but  to  its  puri- 
fication and  reconstruction  upon  a  more  solid  foundation.  There- 
fore let  us  have  faith  in  the  Truth. 

Says  Esdras :  "As  for  the  truth,  it  endureth,  and  is  always 
strong;  it  liveth  and  conquereth  for  evermore. 

"With  her  there  is  no  accepting  of  persons  or  rewards  ;  but 
she  doeth  the  things  that  are  just,  and  refraineth  from  all  unjust 
and  wicked  things ;  and  all  men  do  well  like  of  her  works. 

"Neither  in  her  judgment  is  any  unrighteousness  ;  and  she  is 
the  strength,  kingdom,  power,  and  majesty  of  all  ages.  Blessed 
be  the  God  of  Truth."     (i  Esdras  iv.  38-40.) 


REPLY  TO  CRITICS  OF  THE  FIRST  LECTURE. 

THE  ETHICAL  ASPECT. 

In  his  Dcr  Kampf  urn  Babel  tind  Bihel,  p.  20  ff.,  Professor 
Samuel  Oettli  says:  "The  materials  transmitted  to  us  in  the  Old 
Testament  have  been  plunged  into  an  atmosphere  of  ethical  inono- 
theisi7i  and  purified  by  this  bath  from  all  ethically  or  religiously 
confused  and  confusing  elements.  We  no  longer  find  the  deluge 
here  as  the  product  of  the  blind  wrath  of  a  god,  but  as  the  ethically 
warranted  punishment  sent  by  a  just  god  upon  a  degenerate  race." 

This  is  an  error.  Even  the  report  of  Berosus  shows  us  that  to 
^.he  Babylonians  also  the  world-flood  was  a  sin-flood.^  Consider 
his  words:  "The  others  cried  aloud  when  a  voice  commanded 
them  to  fear  God,  as  Xisuthros  had  been  translated  to  the  gods 
because  lie  had  been  godfearing."  While  we  may  assure  ourselves 
from  this  alone  that  the  Babylonian  Noah  escaped  from  the  judg- 
ment of  the  deluge  because  of  his  piety  and  the  remainder  of  man- 
kind were  destroyed  because  of  their  ever-increasing  sinfulness, 
the  inference  is  confirmed  by  the  words  in  the  cuneiform  inscrip- 
tion, spoken  by  Ea  after  the  deluge  to  Bel  who  had  caused  it : 
"Lay  up  his  sin  against  the  sinner,"  etc. 

Professor  Edward  Konig,  in  his  essay  Bihel  und  Babel,  p.  32, 
says:  "The  spirit  of  the  two  traditions  (Babylonian  and  Hebrew) 
is  totally  different.  This  is  shown  by  a  single  feature  :  The  Baby- 
lonian hero  rescues  his  inanimate  as  well  as  his  living  property, 
while  in  both  the  Bible  accounts  we  have  the  higher  point  of  view 
represented  by  the  rescue  of  the  living  creatures  only."  What 
blind  zeal !  Even  in  the  fragment  of  Berosus  we  read  that  Xisu- 
thros was  commanded  to  "take  in  winged  and  fourfooted  animals," 
and  the  original  cuneiform  account  says  expressly:  "I  brought  up 
into  the  ship  the  cattle  of  the  field  and  the  wild  beasts  of  the  field.' 

lAn  untranslatable  German  pun  and  popular  etymology  (Sintflut=  "universal  flood  ":  Siind- 
flut  =  "  sin-flood  "). 


146  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

Accordingly,  the  "higher  point  of  view"  must  be  conceded  to  the 
Babylonian  account  by  Konig  himself. 

THE  PRIMORDIAL  CHAOS. 
With  reference  to  mythological  features  in  the  Biblical  account 
of  the  creation  something  further  may  be  said.  Oettli  remarks  with 
much  truth,  p.  12,  on  the  presumption  of  the  existence  of  a  chaos  : 
"The  notion  of  a  primitive  matter  which  was  not  derived  from 
God's  creative  activity  but  which  had  rather  to  be  overcome  by  it, 
cannot  have  grown  up  on  soil  of  the  Religion  of  Israel,  which  is 
strictly  monotheistic  in  its  thought,  at  least  on  the  prophetic 
heights,  and  consequently  excludes  the  dualistic  conflict  of  two 
hostile  primitive  principles."  I  call  attention  here  to  the  remark 
of  Wellhausen  also:  "If  we  take  Chaos  for  granted,  everything 
else  is  developed  out  of  this ;  everything  else  is  reflection,  syste- 
matic construction,  which  we  can  figure  out  with  little  difificulty." 

TRACES  OF  POLYTHEISM. 

In  the  Elohistic  account  of  the  creation  also  there  are  traces 
of  polytheistic  elements.  When  we  read  (Genesis  i.  26):  "Let  us 
make  men  in  our^  own  image,  after  our  semblance,"  Oettli  says 
with  justice  :  "Moreover,  that  plural  of  self-appeal  preceding  the 
creation  of  man  is  not  so  easily  to  be  reconciled  with  the  later  strict 
monotheism,  nor  the  'image  of  God'  in  which  man  is  created, 
with  the  spirituality  of  Yahveh  which  is  afterwards  so  strongly  em- 
phasised, when  once,  rejecting  all  exegetic  arts,  we  give  to  words 
their  simple  and  obvious  meaning.  And  this,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  the  Biblical  author,  in  accordance  with  his  religious  posi- 
tion, has  given  a  higher  value  to  these  originally  foreign  elements." 

In  fact.  Genesis  i.  26  and  Isaiah  xlvi.  5  are  in  irreconcilable 
opposition.  The  polytheistic  coloring  of  Genesis  i.  27  with  its  im- 
plied distinction  of  gods  and  goddesses  would  appear  peculiarly 
drastic  if  the  three  members  of  the  sentence  are  thought  of  as  quite 
closely  connected  :  "And  God  created  man  in  his  own  image,  in 
the  image  of  God  created  He  him,  male  and  female  created  He 
them."     But  we  cannot  regard  this  as  sure. 

BABYLONIAN  MONOTHEISM. 
It  may  be  recalled  that  I  said  in  my  first  lecture:    "Despite 
the  fact  that  free  and  enlightened  minds  publicly  taught  that  Nergal 

IThe  assumption  that  we  have  here  a  case  of  pluralis  ntajestaticus  is  not,  indeed,  precluded 
by  general  Hebrew  usage,  but  it  is  far-fetched  ;  compare  lii  2,  the  saying  of  Yahveh  :  "  Lo,  man 
has  become  as  one  of  us." 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  147 

and  Nebo,  moon-god  and  sun-god,  the  thunder-god  Ramman  and 
all  the  other  gods  were  one  in  Marduk,  the  god  of  light,  polytheism 
remained  for  three  thousand  years  the  state  religion  of  Babylon." 

Jensen  has  felt  warranted  in  accompanying  this  remark  with 
the  following  observations,  which  have  been  carried  further  by 
Konig  and  others  with  much  gratification,  as  was  to  be  expected  : 
"This  would  indeed  be  one  of  the  most  significant  discoveries  ever 
made  in  the  realm  of  the  history  of  religion,  and  therefore  we  must 
regret  exceedingly  that  Delitzsch  does  not  cite  his  source.  I  be- 
lieve that  I  may  declare  with  all  positiveness  that  nothing  of  the 
sort  can  be  derived  from  the  texts  that  are  accessible  to  me.  There- 
fore we  beg  urgently  that  he  publish  soon  the  text  of  the  passage 
which  deprives  Israel  of  the  greatest  glory  that  has  hitherto  illu- 
mined that  race, — that  of  being  the  only  one  that  worked  its  way 
out  into  pure  monotheism." 

Very  good,  if  indeed  Jensen  stands  by  his  expression,  Israel  is 
now  actually  deprived  of  this  its  greatest  glory,  and  this  by  the 
Neo-Babylonian  cuneiform  tablet  8 1,  11-3,  in,  known  since  1895 
and  published  in  \\\&  Jotirnal  of  the  Transactions  of  the  Victoria  Insti- 
tute by  Theo.  G.  Pinches, — a  tablet  which  is  indeed  preserved  only 
as  a  fragment,  but  the  remaining  portion  of  which  shows  us  that 
upon  it  all  the  divinities  of  the  Babylonian  pantheon  (or  at  least 
the  chief  ones)  are  indicated  as  being  one  with  and  one  in  the  god 
Marduk.      I  quote  only  a  few  lines  •} 

"The  god  Marduk  is  written  and  called  Ninib  as  the  possessor 
of  power,  Nergal  or  perhaps  Zamama  as  lord  of  combat  or  of  battle, 
Bel  as  possessor  of  dominion,  Nebo  as  lord  of  business  (?),  Sin  as 
illuminator  of  the  night,  Samas  as  lord  of  all  that  is  right,  as  lord 
of  rain." 

Accordingly,  Marduk  is  Ninib  as  well  as  Nergal,  moon-god  as 
well  as  sun-god,  etc.,  in  other  words,  the  names  Ninib  and  Nergal, 
Sin  and  Samas  are  only  various  designations  of  the  one  god  Mar- 
duk; they  are  all  one  with  him  and  in  him.  Is  this  not  "indoger- 
manic  monotheism,  the  doctrine  of  the  unity  which  develops  only 
out  of  variety"? 


ilNin-ib 

Marduk  sa  alii 

ii  Nergal 

Marduk  sa  kablu 

ilZa-m.'i-ma 

Marduk  sa  tahazi 

ilBS'I 

Marduk  sa  bg'lutu  u  miduktu 

ilNabu 

Marduk  sa  nikasi 

iiSin 

Marduk  munammir  musi 

il  Samas 

Marduk  sa  kOnSti 

ilAddu 

Marduk  sa  zunnu 

148  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


THE  NAME  "EL." 

O71  il,  ^?>*  God. — All  Semitic  prepositions  were  originally  sub- 
stantives. For  the  preposition "7N!,  which  is  originall}^  //,  "toward, 
to,  at,"  the  fundamental  significance  which  from  the  start  seems 
most  probable,  "aim,  direction,"  is  still  preserved  in  Hebrew^  al- 
though this  was  until  recently  overlooked.  It  is  found  in  the 
phrase,  "This  or  that  is  ^7t  "^^?>"  that  is,  "at  the  disposal  of  thy 
hand,"  "it  is  in  thy  control." 

The  opinion  that  "'N*  in  this  phrase  means  "power"  may  have 
the  support  of  tradition,  like  thousands  of  other  errors  in  the  He- 
brew lexicography,  but  it  has  never  been  demonstrated,  and  there- 
fore it  is  not  true,  as  Konig  declares  (p.  38),  that  "^/  is  surely  equiv- 
alent to  'power'  or  'strength.'"  The  only  meanmg  that  can  be 
demonstrated  is  "aim,  direction,"  which  carries  with  it  as  a  matter 
of  course  the  concrete  significance  "that  toward  which  one  directs 
himself,   end,  goal." 

The  Sumerians  conceived  of  their  gods  as  dwelling  up  above 
where  the  eye  of  man  is  directed,  in  and  over  the  sky ;  we  ourselves 
use  "heaven"  figuratively  for  "God"  (comp.  Daniel  iv.  23);  and 
furthermore,  a  Babylonian  psalm  calls  the  sun-god  digil  irsiiiyn 
rapostitn,  the  "goal  of  the  wide  world,"  that  is,  the  end  toward 
which  the  eyes  of  all  the  earth-dwellers  are  directed,  and,  finally, 
the  poet  of  the  Book  of  Job  (xxxvi.  25),  in  harmony  with  an  abun- 
dance of  other  passages  in  Semitic  literatures,  glorifies  God  as  the 
one  "on  whom  all  eyes  hang,  toward  whom  man  looks  from  afar." 
And  just  so  the  earliest  Semites  called  the  "divine"  being  whom 
they  conceived  of  as  dwelling  in  the  heavens  above  and  ruling 
heaven  and  earth  //,  el,  "that  toward  which  the  eye  is  directed,' 
(cp.  the  analogous  application  of  ?2?  to  God  and  things  divine  in 
Hosea  xi.  7).  In  my  opinion  the  first  and  original  meaning  of  the 
word  is  "goal  of  the  eye,"  as  is  the  case  with  the  sun  and  the  sky. 

Inasmuch  as  il  is  thus  demonstrated  to  have  the  meaning 
"aim,  goal,"  and  as  the  designation  of  the  deity  by  this  word  is 
perfectly  in  accord  with  the  Semitic  habit  of  thought,  and  it  is 
therefore  not  permissible  to  assume  another  primitive  noun  //,  my 
interpretation  of  el,  the  name  of  God,  is  established  in  every  point. 

It  is  just  as  useless  and  impermissible  to  seek  after  a  verb  cor- 
responding to  such  a  primitive  noun  as  //  (see  Konig,  p.  38),  as  to 
seek  after  a  verbal  stem  to  match  others  of  these  most  ancient  bi- 
consonantal  nouns,  such  as y'/w,  "  day,"  or  mi/l,  "man." 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  149 

Besides,  the  etymology  of  the  word  //,  el  is  not  the  most  im- 
portant consideration.  The  chief  thing  is  rather  the  fact  that  those 
North-Semitic  tribes  which  we  find  estabhshed  about  2500  B.  C. 
both  north  and  south  of  Babylon,  and  whose  greatest  monarch  in 
later  times  (about  2250)  was  King  Hammurabi,  conceived  of  and 
worshipped  God  as  a  unitary,  spiritual  being.  Let  it  be  observed 
that  this  applies  to  the  North-Semitic  tribes  which  had  in  part  im- 
migrated to  Babylonia  and  afterwards  established  themselves 
there,  not  to  Sumerian-Semitic  Babylonians. 

A  number  of  journals  have  represented  it  as  my  opinion  that 
"even  the  Jewish  conception  of  God  was  derived  from  the  Baby- 
lonian cosmology";  and  Oettli  (p.  4)  says  that  in  my  view  even 
"the  name  and  the  worship  of  Yahveh  himself,  united  with  a  more 
or  less  definitely  developed  monotheism,  was  a  primitive  posses- 
sion of  Babylon."     But  these  are  misrepresentations. 

As  to  those  names  of  persons  which  occur  so  freqiiently  in  the 
time  of  the  first  Babylonian  dynasty,  Konig  is  utterly  mistaken  in 
declaring  (p.  40,  42)  that  among  notorious  polytheists  the  names 
must  needs  be  translated  and  interpreted  as  "<?  god  hath  given"; 
and  so  is  Oettli  (p.  23)  when  he  asks:  "Who  can  prove  that  those 
names  are  not  to  be  taken  polytheistically,  ^a  god  hath  given,'  ^ a 
god  be  with  me'  "?  To  say  nothing  of  other  reasons,  this  interpre- 
tation breaks  down  in  the  case  of  such  names  as  Ilu-amranni,  "God 
consider  me!"  Ilu-turani,  "God,  turn  thee  hither  again!"  and 
others.  Or,  on  the  other  hand,  are  we  to  cease  to  render  Bab-ihi 
"Gate  of  God,"  and  say  "Gate  of  a  god"?  No!  For  the  time  of 
Hammurabi  we  hold  fast  to  those  beautiful  names  which  signify  so 
much  for  the  history  of  religion  :  Ilu-ittia,  "God  be  with  me,"  Ilu- 
amtahar,  "I  called  upon  God,"  Ilu-abi,  Ilu-tni/ki,  "God  is  my  fa- 
ther," or  "my  counsel,"  larbi-ilu,  "Great  is  God,"  lamlik-ilu, 
"God  sits  in  power,"  Ibsi-itia-ili,  "Through  God  came  he  into  be- 
ing," Avel-ilu,  "Servant  of  God,"  Mut{uni)-ilu,  "Man  of  God" 
(=r=Methuscha'el),  //z^w^-/(fV,  "God  is  xm^X.y,''^  Iluma-abi,  "God 
is  my  father,"  IWuna-ilu,  "God  is  God,"  Summa-ilu-Id-ilia,  "If  God 
were  not  my  God,"  and  so  on. 

The  names  must  of  course  be  judged  collectively.  In  the  case 
of  certain  of  them  (as  in  certain  Assyrian  names,  like  Na'id-ilu)  we 
might  certainly  see  in  "God"  merely  an  appellative,  as  perhaps  in 
the  phrase  from  the  laws  of  Hammurabi :  mahar-ili,  to  assert  any- 
thing "before  God";  or  in  the  phrase  that  occurs  hundreds  of 
times  in  the  Babylonian  contracts  of  that  period,  "to  swear  by  God 


150  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

(^ilu)  and  the  king"  (cp.  i  Samuel  xii.  3,  5:  "by  Yahveh  and  the 
king"),  but  taking  them  all  together  it  seems  to  me  that  they  make 
it  impossible  to  think  that  ilu  means  a  "city  or  family  god,"  or  the 
"special  tutelary  deity." 

Precisely  in  "the  endeavor  of  a  people  without  philosophical 
development  to  be  as  concrete  and  specific  as  possible  in  its  notions 
and  expressions,"  we  should  inevitably  expect  to  find  in  each  case 
the  name  of  the  particular  divinity  intended,  or  on  the  other  hand 
if  the  tutelary  divinity  of  the  family  or  of  the  infant  was  meant  we 
should  expect  to  find  "my  God,"  or  "his  God."  An  unprejudiced 
and  unsophisticated  consideration  of  all  these  and  other  names  of 
the  Hammurabi  period  leads  rather  to  the  renewed  assumption  that 
they  are  rooted  in  a  religious  conception  different  from  the  poly- 
theistic views  that  were  native  in  Babylon.  What  was  the  nature 
and  value  of  that  monotheism  the  contemporary  sources  do  not 
enable  us  to  determine,  but  only  to  infer  them  from  the  later  de- 
velopment of  "Yahvism." 

THE  NAME  "YAHVEH." 

We  must  insist  with  all  positiveness  that  in  the  two  names 
Ya-a'-ve-ilu  and  Ya  ve-ilu  the  reading  Ya've  is  the  onl}^  one  that 
can  be  regarded  as  within  the  realm  of  possibility. 

The  assault  upon  my  reading — which  in  the  light  of  our  pres- 
ent knowledge  is  irrefutable — has  revealed  a  lamentable  state  of 
ignorance  in  the  critics :  this  ignorance  may  account  for  the  mis- 
cellaneous insinuations  which  have  been  indulged  in,  as  when  Pro- 
fessor Kittel  ventures  to  speak  of  my  reading  as  a  "partisan  ma- 
neuver." 

In  order  to  at  least  correct  this  ignorance,  I  beg  to  make  the 
following  brief  and  condensed  exposition  of  the  matter  for  the  ben- 
efit of  my  theological  critics  and  of  certain  of  the  Assyriologists 
who  have  volunteered  to  advise  them.  The  sign  vu  has  the  follow- 
ing syllabic  values  :  ///  tal;  tii;  tarn,  and  besides  in  Babylonian  in 
particular:  """/z/^''  fn^ l^d.;  a;  {ini),  or  as  would  be  perhaps  bet- 
ter; ve;  Vil;  a;  {yii).  But  any  one  who  has  become  measurably 
familiar  with  the  style  of  writing  of  the  Hammurabi  period  knows 
that,  even  if  the  reading  Ya-'u-md,  be  granted,  this  md  cannot  pos- 
sibly be  interpreted  as  the  emphasising  particle  tna.  Accordingly 
Konig  (p.  48  f. )  and  Kittel  and  others  are  mistaken;  on  the  con- 
trary,  ma   is  without  exception   written  with  its  customary  sign. 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE-  151 

Thus  the  interpretation  of  the  names  in  question  as  "Ya,  Ya'u  is 
God"  is  absolutely  precluded.  Let  him  who  denies  this  cite  one 
single  instance  in  which  the  emphatic  particle  ma  is  written  with 
the  character  vie.  And  in  the  case  of  Ya-ii-u/n  ilu,  I  may  remark 
incidentally,  the  in  may  be  only  mimation  and  not  an  abbreviated 
fna. 

Neither  is  the  reading  proposed  by  Bezold,  Ya-\x-bi-iiu,  pos- 
sible, for  in  the  time  of  Hammurabi  the  sign  hi  does  perhaps  rep- 
resent also  the  S3dlable  //,  but  the  reverse,  sign  tni  for  bi,  is  never 
the  case.  And  on  mature  reflection  the  reading  Ya\ay-pi-ilu  can- 
not be  considered.  It  is  true  that  the  sign  inc  is  found  for //in  the 
time  of  Hammurabi,  as  frequently  in  the  contracts  published  by 
Meissner  in  his  Beitrdgc  zuin  altbahylonischen  Privatreclit,  and  also 
in  the  Code  of  Hammurabi,  but  the  regular  sign  for//  occurs  much 
more  frequentl}^  For  instance,  in  the  79  letters  from  this  very 
period,  published  by  King,//  is  represented  exclusively  by  its  regu- 
lar sign. 

Besides  this,  a  "canaanitish"  verb  form  /a'//,  iapi  could  be 
derived  only  from  a  stem  ncn,  which  does  not  exist.  Instead  of 
Ya(^^ve  ilu  we  might  then  at  most  read  Ya-^' a /w-)vd /ji-i/u,  with 
radical  v,  but  by  this  very  emendation  we  should  expose  ourselves 
to  the  dreaded  recognition  of  a  god  TuTC  Accordingly  my  reading 
Ya-a'-ve-ilu,  Yave-ilu  remains  the  most  obvious  as  well  as  the  only 
one  deserving  serious  consideration. 

I  venture  on  the  interpretation  of  the  name  Ya(^^vc-ilu  with 
less  confidence  than  on  the  reading  of  it.  The  interpretation  pro- 
posed by  Konig  (p.  50),  "May  God  protect"  (why  not,  "May<z 
god  protect"?),  from  Arabic  hama,  "to  protect,"  as  well  as  that 
of  Barth  (p.  ig),  "God  gives  life"  {Ya-ah-vc-ihi),  is  highly  improb- 
able. As  names  from  a  foreign  language  they  would  needs  appear 
as  Yahve-ilu,  not  Ya've-ilu  or  even  Yavc-ilu,  and  only  in  the  last  ex- 
tremity would  one  be  justified  in  the  assumption  that  these  foreign 
personal  names  had  gradually  been  Bab5donised  in  pronunciation, 
at  the  same  time  becoming  wholly  unintelligible.  No,  if  we  are  to 
concede  that  there  is  a  verb-form  contained  in  yd've,  ydve,  then  it  is 
certainly  the  most  obvious  thing  to  think  of  the  verb  t^^tx,  the  older 
form  of  n*n  which  is  assumed  in  Exodus  iii.  14,  and  to  interpret  it 
with  Zimmern  as  "God  exists."  My  interpretation,  "Ja've  is 
God,"  would  accordingly  remain  by  far  the  most  probable  in  and 
of  itself. 


152  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 


THE  NAME   "YAHUM-ILU." 

The  name  Ya  u-um-ilu  is  and  remains  a  foreign  name.  It 
belongs  among  the  North-Semitic  tribes,  more  precisely  Canaan- 
itic.  Among  these  tribes  there  is  no  other  god  Ya-i't  but  the  god 
in^,  Yahii,  that  god  who  is  contained  in  the  name  Ya-u-ha-zi  and 
others. 

Now  this  name  of  the  divinity  Yahu  which  is  found  at  the  be- 
ginning and  especially  at  the  end  of  Hebrew  names  of  persons,  is 
the  shorter  form  of  Yahve,  "the  Existing,"  and  consequently  pre- 
supposes the  fuller  form  Yahve.  Now  even  to  the  Jews  of  the  exilic 
and  post-exilic  periods  the  name  Yahveh  was  by  no  means  a  nomen 
ineffabile,  as  is  shown  by  the  many  names  of  this  later  time  :  Ya-se'- 
va-a-va^=  Isaiah  (^n^JJii'?'),  Pi-li-ya-a-va,  and  others.  So  much  the  less 
could  it  have  been  such  to  that  primitive  period  in  which  the  name 
of  God,  Yahveh,  was  very  far  from  possessing  the  sanctity  which  it 
was  to  attain  later  in  Israel. 

The  name  Yahum-ilu,  therefore,  presupposes  a  fuller  equiva- 
lent name  Ya've-ilu.  Now  when  such  a  name  is  really  twice  docu- 
mented, in  Ya'-ve-ilu,  Ya-ve  ilu,  should  It  not  be  recognised  as  such 
without  reserve,  and  the  more  so  as  the  refusal  to  recognise  it  will 
after  all  not  obliterate  the  fact  of  the  existence  of  the  North-Semitic 
("Canaanitic")  name  of  the  divinity  Yahti,  which  is  perfectly  iden- 
tical with  Yahveh,  nor  the  existence  of  a  name  Yahu-ilu,  "Yahu  is 
God,"  similar  to  the  Hebrew  ^^<"''  (Joel),  a  thousand  years  before 
the  prophet  Elijah's  utterance  upon  Carmel,  "Yahveh  is  God'' 
(i  Kings  xviii.  39)? 

It  needs  no  demonstration  to  convince  competent  judges  that 
Earth's  interpretation  (p.  19)  of  Ya-hu-um-ilu  as  abbreviated  from 
Ya-ah-we-ilu  must  be  rejected. 

Jensen  too  regards  it  as  "certainly  in  the  highest  degree  prob- 
able that  both  composita  contain  the  name  of  God  Yavch-Yahu," 
adding  very  correctly  :  "  Now  since  the  Ya'wa  in  the  name  cannot 
be  of  Assyrio-Babylonian  origin,  it  is  surely  of  foreign  origin,  and 
hence,  in  all  probability,  the  whole  name  is  '  Canaanitic,'  and  its 
wearers,  or  wearer,  also  'Canaanites.' "  But  when  he  goes  on  to 
say:  "But  because  a  Miiller  or  a  Schultze  is  met  with  in  Paris,  we 
are  not  warranted  in  assuming  that  the  Germans  are  the  prevalent 
race  in  Paris;  and  just  as  little  does  an  Ya'wa-iK^ii),  appearing  in 
Babylon  2000  years  ago,  need  to  prove  anything  more  than  that 
the  bearers  of  this  name  occasionally  came  to  Babylon," — when  he 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  153 

reasons  thus  I  confidently  leave  it  to  the  unprejudiced  reader  to 
decide  whether,  in  view  of  all  the  names  like  Yarbi-ilu,  Yavilik-ilu, 
and  so  on  (not  to  mention  Ha7tiniurabi,  Attitni-zadtlga,  and  other 
Canaanitish  names),  the  delicate  parallel  of  Miiller  and  Schulze  is 
even  remotely  justified.  Furthermore,  even  Jensen  is  compelled, 
as  we  see,  to  admit  that  the  evidence  is  good  for  the  existence  of 
the  divine  name  Yahvc  (  Yahvu')  before  2000  B.  C.  Moreover,  Zim- 
mern  makes  this  concession:  "Even  supposing  that  we  have  in 
ya-ii-tifu  the  name  of  a  divinity,  which  is  not  i?nprobabIe,  and  even 
the  name  Yahu,  Yahvc,  7uhich  is  possible. ''  That  is  enough  for  the 
present;  the  admission  of  the  reading  Kz-(a')z'<?  and  of  my  inter- 
pretation will  probably  follow. 

And  accordingly,  if  Ya-h-um  holds  its  own  as  equivalent  to 
1.T,  i.T,  then  the  names  of  that  same  period:  Ilu-idinnam,  "God 
hath  given,"  Sd-iii,  "Belonging  to  God,"  Ilu-amtahar,  "I  called 
upon  God,"  Ilu-iiiraffi,  "God,  turn  to  me,"  etc.,  may  with  double 
right  be  regarded  as  equivalent  in  their  content  to  the  correspond- 
ing Hebrew  names. 

PROCESSIONS   OF   THE   GODS. 

Jensen  would  not  countenance  my  proposition  that  processions 
of  Gods  are  mentioned  in  Isaiah.  We  read  (xlv.  20):  "They 
have  no  knowledge  that  carry  their  graven  image  of  wood,  and  pray 
unto  a  God  that  cannot  help,"  and  again  (xlvi.  i):  "Bel  has  sunk 
down,  Nebo  is  bowed  down,  their  idols  are  fallen  to  the  lot  of  the 
beasts  and  to  the  cattle,  the  things  (i.  e.,  fabrications)  that  ye  car- 
ried about  are  made  a  load,  a  burden  to  the  weary  beasts."  There 
can  be  but  few  commentators  here  who  do  not  think  in  connection 
with  these  passages  of  the  Babylonian  processions  of  the  gods,  in 
which  Bel  and  Nebo  were  carried  in  ceremonious  progress  through 
the  streets  of  Babel. 

AARON'S  BLESSING.' 

What  I  have  said  as  to  the  significance  of  the  phrase  in  the 
Aaronite  blessing,  "Yahveh  lift  up  his  countenance  to  thee,"  i.  e. , 
"turn  his  favor,  his  love,  towards  thee,"  holds  good  in  spite  of  my 
critics.  When  spoken  of  men,  "to  lift  the  countenance  to  any  one 
or  to  anything"  means  nothing  more  than  "to  look  up  at"  (so  it  is 
used  in  2  Ki.  ix.  32).  It  is  used  in  Job  xxii.  26  (cf.  xi.  15),  as  well 
as  in  2  Sam.  ii.  22,  with  reference  to  a  man  who,  free  from   guilt 

1  Num.  vi.  24  ff. 


154  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

and  fault,  can  look  up  God  and  to  his  fellow-men.  This  meaning, 
of  course,  is  not  appropriate  if  the  words  are  spoken  of  God.  Then 
it  must  mean  precisely  the  same  thing  as  the  Assyrian,  "to  raise 
the  eyes  to  anyone,"  that  is  to  say,  to  find  pleasure  in  one,  to  direct 
one's  love  towards  him  ;  therefore  not  quite  the  same  as  to  take 
heed  of  one  (as  in  Siegiried-Stade's  /fi-/>ra/si/ifs  Wortcrbucli,  p.  441). 
If  it  were  so,  "the  Lord  lift  up  his  countenance  to  thee"  would  be 
equivalent  to  "the  Lord  keep  thee."  When  Jensen  (^op.  cit.,  col. 
491)  insists  that  the  Assyrian  expression  is  literally,  not  to  lift  up 
"the  face,"  but  to  lift  up  "the  eyes,"  he  might  with  equal  justice 
deny  that  Assyrian  bit  Amman  means  the  same  thing  as  the  He- 
brew b^nc  Atnmon.  In  fact,  whereas  the  prevailing  Hebrew  usage 
is  "if  it  be  right  in  thine  eyes,"  the  Assyrian  says  in  every  case, 
"if  it  be  right  in  thy  countenance"  {ina  pdnika;  cf.  siimma  \ind\ 
t>dn  sarri  mahir);  "eyes"  and  "countenance"  interchange  in  such 
phrases  as  this. 

In  Hebrew  we  find  "to  lift  up  the  e3'es  to  one"  used  as  equiv- 
alent to  "to  conceive  an  affection  for  one,"  only  with  reference  to 
human,  sensual  love  (Gen.  xxxix.  7).  The  value  of  the  Assyrian 
phrase,  "to  lift  up  the  eyes  to  any  one,"  in  its  bearing  on  the 
Aaronite  blessing,  rests  in  the  fact  that  it  is  used  with  preference 
(though  not  exclusively,  as  Jensen  thinks)  of  the  gods  who  direct 
their  love  towards  a  favored  person  or  some  sacred  spot.  In  reply 
to  Jensen  who  claims  (p.  490)  that  the  choice  of  my  example  of 
the  usefulness  of  Assyrian  linguistic  analogies  is  "a  failure,"  I 
comfort  myself  with  the  thought  that  the  recognition  of  our  in- 
debtedness as  to  a  deepening  of  the  meaning  of  the  Aaronite  bless- 
ing to  cuneiform  literature,  was  many  years  ago  publicly  endorsed 
by  no  lesser  one  than  Franz  Delitzsch. 

J.  Barth  attacks  on  trivial  grounds  my  statement  that  Canaan 
at  the  time  of  the  Israelite  Incursion,  was  a  "domain  completely 
pervaded  by  Babylonian  culture."  This  fact,  however,  obtains 
ever  wider  recognition.  Alfred  Jeremias  in  the  '■'■ZeitgeisV  of  the 
Berliticr  Tageblatt,  February  16,  1903,  says:  "Further,  at  the  time 
of  the  immigration  of  the  'children  of  Israel,'  Canaan  was  sub- 
ject to  the  especial  influence  of  Babylonian  civilisation.  About 
1450  the  Canaanites,  like  all  the  peoples  of  the  Nearer  Fast,  wrote 
in  the  Babylonian  cuneiform  character,  and  in  the  Babylonian  lan- 
guage. This  fact,  proved  by  the  literature  of  the  time,  forces  us 
to  assume  that  the  influence  of  Babylonian  thought  had  been  ex- 
erted for  centuries  previously.    Of  late  Canaan  itself  seems  to  wish 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  155 

to  bear  witness.  The  excavation  of  an  ancient  Canaanite  castle  by 
Professor  Sellin  has  brought  to  light  an  altar  with  Babylonian 
genii  and  trees  of  life,  and  Babylonian  seals." 

It  may  be  briefly  recalled  here  that  the  religion  of  the  Cana- 
anites  with  their  god  Tammuz,  and  their  Asherahs,  bears  unmistak- 
able marks  of  Babylonian  influence,  and  that  before  the  immigration 
of  the  children  of  Israel  a  place  in  the  neighborhood  of  Jerusalem 
was  called  Bit-Ninib  (house  of  Ninib),  after  the  Babylonian  god 
Ninib.  There  may  have  been  actually  in  Jerusalem  itself  a  bit 
Ninib,  a  temple  of  the  god  Ninib.  See  Keilinschriftliche  Bibliothek, 
v..  No.  183,  15,  and  cf.  Zimmern,  in  the  third  edition  of  Schra- 
der's  Die  Keilinschriftcn  und  das  Alte  Testament,  second  half,  p.  411. 
Cf.  also  Lecture  II.,  p.  184. 

THE  SABBATH. 

The  vocabulary  (II.  R.  32,  No.  i)  mentions,  among  divers 
kinds  of  days,  a  titn  mih  libbi  (1.  16,  a,  b),  a  day  for  the  quieting  of 
the  heart  (viz.,  of  the  gods),  with  its  synonym  sa-pat-tum,  which 
word,  in  view  of  the  frequent  use  of  the  sign  pat  for  bat  (e.  g.,  sti- 
t>at,  var.  bat,  "dwelling";  Tig.  vi.  94),  might  be  interpreted  to 
mean  sabattum,  and  on  the  authority  of  the  syllabary  (82,  g-i8, 
4159,  col.  I,  24)  where  UD  (Sumer.  t'l)  is  rendered  by  sa-bat-tmn, 
it  must  be  so. 

The  statement  in  the  syllabary  not  only  confirms  the  view  that 
the  word  sabattum  means  a  day,  but  it  may  also  explain  the  sabat- 
tum to  be  the  day  par  excellence,  perhaps  because  it  is  the  day  of 
the  gods. 

Jensen  in  Z.  A.  iv.,  1889,  pp.  274  et  seq.  says  that  sabattu 
means  "appeasement  (of  the  gods),  expiation,  penitential  prayer," 
and  the  verb  sabdtu  "to  conciliate"  or  "to  be  conciliated"  (Jensen 
in  Christliche  Welt,  col.  492).  But,  neither  from  83,  1-8,  1330,  col. 
I,  25,  where  ZUR  is  rendered  sa-bat-tim  (following  immediately 
n^orv  nuhhii),  nor  from  IV.  8,  where  TE  is  rendered  by  sa-bat-tim 
[why  not,  as  elsewhere,  in  the  nominative?],  ma)'  Jensen's  propo- 
sition be  inferred  with  any  degree  of  certainty.  The  verb  sabdtu 
is  hitherto  only  attested  as  a  synonym  of  gamdru  (V.  R.  28,  14,  <?,/). 
Therefore,  the  only  meaning  that  may  be  justifiably  assumed  for 
sabattu  at  present  is  "cessation  (of  work),  keeping  holiday."  It 
seems  to  me  that  the  compiler  of  the  syllabary  83,  1-8,  1330,  de- 
rived his  statement  ZUR  and  TE^:=sabbatim  from  the  equations 
UD.  ZUR  and  UD,  TE^=^uni  nuhhi  ox  pussuhi^^^um  sabattitn. 


156  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

Accordingly,  the  Babylonian  sabattu  is  the  day  of  the  quieting 
of  the  heart  of  the  gods  and  the  rest  day  for  human  work  (the  latter 
is  naturally  the  condition  of  the  former). 

If  in  the  well-known  calendar  of  festivals  (IV.  R.  32/33)  the 
seventh,  fourteenth,  twenty-first,  and  twenty-eighth  days  of  a  month 
are  expressly  characterised  as  days  whereon  every  kind  of  labor 
should  rest,  should  we  not  see  in  these  days  no  other  than  the  sa- 
/>attu-ddiy} 

The  mooted  words  in  the  calendar  of  festivals  run,  according 
to  our  present  knowledge,  thus:  "The  shepherd  of  the  great  na- 
tions shall  not  eat  roasted  or  smoked  (?)  meat  (variant :  anything 
touched  by  fire),  not  change  his  garment,  not  put  on  white  raiment, 
not  offer  sacrifice."  [It  is  doubtful  whether  these  prohibitions  are 
of  universal  application,  binding  also  the  flocks  of  the  shepherd. 
Then  the  particular  prohibitions  follow]  ;  "the  King  shall  not 
mount  his  chariot,  as  ruler  not  pronounce  judgment;  the  Magus 
shall  not  give  oracles  in  a  secret  place  [i.  e.,  removed  from  pro- 
fane approach],  the  physician  shall  not  lay  his  hand  on  the  sick, 
[the  day  being]  unauspiscious  for  any  affair  whatever"  (.?  ana  kal 
sihlti;  sibutu  here,  it  seems  used  like  13V,  in  Dan.  vi.  18  ;  "afffair, 
cause"). 

Accordingly  we  must  acquiesce  in  the  fact  that  the  Hebrew 
Sabbath,  ultimately  is  rooted  in  a  Babylonian  institution.  More 
than  this  was  not  claimed. 

We  need  not  quarrel  with  Konig  who  emphasises  that  the 
Israelite  Sabbath  received  its  specific  consecration  on  account  of 
its  "humanitarian  tendency  towards  servants,  and  animals." 

The  setting  apart  of  the  seventh  day  as  the  day  in  which  we 
are  to  refrain  from  labors  of  any  kind  finds  its  explanation,  as  I 
showed  years  ago,  in  the  fact  that  the  number  seven  was  in  this  as 
in  other  instances  to  the  Babylonians  an  'evil'  number,  and  this 
is  the  reason  why  the  seventh,  fourteenth,  twenty-first,  twenty- 
eighth  days  in  the  above-mentioned  calendar  are  called  UD.  HUL. 
GAL.,  i.  e.,  evil  days. 

Alfred  Jeremias  (1.  c,  p.  25)  aptly  recalls  the  Talmudic  story, 
according  to  which  Moses  arranged  with  Pharaoh  a  day  of  rest  for 
his  people,  and  when  asked  which  he  thought  the  most  appropriate 
for  the  purpose,  answered  :  "The  seventh,  dedicated  to  the  Planet 
Saturn,  labors  done  on  this  day  will  anyhow  not  prosper,  in  any 
case." 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  157 


THE  FALL. 

Any  one  who  reads  without  bias  my  comments  on  the  cylinder 
seal  (Fig.  47)  representing  a  Babylonian  conception  of  the  Fall, 
will  grant  that  in  comparing  it  to  the  Biblical  story  of  the  Fall, 
that  I  merely  proposed  to  emphasise  the  circumstance  that  the 
serpent  as  the  corrupter  of  the  woman  was  a  significant  feature  in 
either  version.  The  dress  of  the  two  Babylonian  figures,  naturally 
prevented  me  also  from  regarding  the  tree  as  the  tree  "of  knowl- 
edge of  good  and  evil." 

It  seems  to  me  that  possibly  there  may  loom  back  of  the  Bib- 
lical story  in  Gen.  chapters  ii.-iii.  another  older  form  which  knew  of 
one  tree  only  in  the  middle  of  the  garden,  the  Tree  of  Life.  The 
words  in  ii.  9,  "and  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil," 
seem  to  be  superadded,  and  the  narrator,  quite  engrossed  with  the 
newly  introduced  tree  of  knowledge,  and  forgetful  of  the  tree  of 
life  inadvertently  makes  God  allow  man  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life 
which  is  in  contradiction  with  iii.  22. 

As  to  the  tree,  but  that  alone,  I  agree  with  the  late  C.  P.  Tiele 
who  sees  in  the  mooted  Babylonian  picture,  "a  god  with  his  male 
or  female  worshippers  partaking  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  life,"  "a. 
symbol  of  the  hope  of  immortality,"  and  also  with  Hommel,  who 
says  (p.  23):  "It  is  most  important  that  the  original  tree  was  ob- 
viously conceived  to  be  a  conifer,  a  pine  or  cedar  with  its  life  and 
procreation  promoting  fruits.  There  is,  accordingly,  an  unmistak- 
able allusion  to  the  holy  cedar  of  Eridu,  the  typical  tree  of  Para- 
dise in  the  Chaldaean  and  Babylonian  legends." 

Jensen  (col.  488)  argues  as  follows:  "If  the  picture  has  any 
reference  to  the  story  of  the  Fall,  it  is  likely  to  represent  a  scene 
in  which  a  god  forbids  the  first-created  woman  to  partake  of  the 
fruit  of  the  tree  of  life." 

That  one  of  the  figures  is  distinguished  by  horns,  the  usual 
symbol  of  strength  and  victory  (see  Amos  vi.  13)  in  Babylonia  as 
well  as  in  Israel,  is  in  my  opinion  a  very  ingenious  touch  on  the 
part  of  the  artist,  in  order  to  give  an  unmistakable  indication  as  to 
the  sexes  of  the  two  clothed  human  figures.  Those  who  see  in  the 
serpent  behind  the  woman  a  "meandering  line  "  or  "an  ornamental 
division,"  may  do  so  if  they  please,  but  they  will  find  few  that  will 
concur. 

I  do  not  stand  alone  with  my  opinion.  Hommel,  for  instance, 
says  (p.  23);    "The  woman   and  the  writhing   serpent   behind  her 


158  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

express  themselves  clearly  enough";  and  Jensen  (col.  488):  "a 
serpent  stands  or  crawls  behind  the  woman." 

As  to  the  nature  of  this  serpent,  nothing  definite  can  be  said 
so  long  as  we  depend  upon  this  pictorial  representation  alone.  We 
might  regard  it  as  one  of  the  forms  of  Tiamat,  who,  like  Leviathan 
in  Job  iii.  8,  and  the  old  serpent  in  the  Apocalypse,  would  be  as- 
sumed to  be  still  in  existence.      But  this  is  very  uncertain. 

Yiz.u.-pi's  Akkadische  und  sumerische  Keilschrifttexic,  p.  iig,  con- 
tain a  bilingual  text  (D.  T.  67)  which  may  deserve  a  passing  notice 
in  this  connection:  It  mentions  a  fallen  hand-maid,  the  "mother 
of  sin,"  who  being  severely  punished,  bursts  into  bitter  tears — "in- 
tercourse I  learned,  kissing  I  learned" — and  we  find  her  later  on 
lying  in  the  dust  stricken  by  the  fatal  glance  of  the  deity. 

LIFE  AFTER  DEATH. 

In  the  code  of  Hammurabi  (xxvii.  34etseq. ),  the  sinner  is 
cursed  in  the  words:  "May  God  utterly  exterminate  him  from 
among  the  living  upon  earth,  and  debar  his  departed  soul  from  the 
fresh  water  in  Hades." 

The  last  passage  confirms  the  great  antiquity  of  the  Babylonian 
conception  concerning  the  life  of  the  pious  after  death. 

The  Book  of  Job  which  shows  a  close  acquaintance  with  Baby- 
lonian views,  describes  the  contrast  in  the  underworld  between  a 
hot,  waterless  desert  destined  for  the  wicked,  and  a  garden  with 
fresh  Clearwater  for  the  pious.  The  passage  is  rendered  in  a  phil- 
ologically  unobjectionable  translation  in  my  book  Das  Buck  Job, 
Leipzig,  1902:  "Cursed  be  their  portion  on  earth.  Not  does  lie 
turn  to  vineyards.  Desolation  and  also  heat  will  despoil  them. 
Their  prayer  for  snow-water  will  not  be  granted.  Mercy  forgets 
him,  vermin  devours  him  ;  no  longer  is  he  remembered." 

Thus  in  its  right  interpretation  this  passage  forms  a  welcome 
bridge  to  the  New  Testament  conception  of  a  hot,  waterless,  and 
torture-inflicting  Hell,  and  the  garden  which  to  the  Oriental  mind 
cannot  be  conceived  of  as  lacking  water,  abundant,  running,  living 
water. 

The  concluding  verse  of  the  prophetic  book  of  Isaiah  (ch.  Ixvi. 
24):  "and  they  shall  go  forth  and  look  with  joy  upon  the  dead 
bodies  of  those  that  have  revolted  from  me  :  how  their  worm  dieth 
not,  neither  is  their  fire  quenched  :  and  they  are  an  abomination  to 
all  flesh,"  means  that  those  whose  bodies  are  buried  in  the  earth 
will  forever  be  gnawed  by  worms,   and  those  whose  bodies  are 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  159 

burnt  with  fire  shall  forever  suffer  the  death  of  fire.  In  two  respects 
the  passage  is  important :  first,  it  shows  that  cremation  is  thought 
of  as  standing  entirely  on  the  same  level  with  burial,  and  that,  ac- 
cordingly, not  the  slightest  objection  can  be  made  to  cremation  on 
account  of  the  Bible  ;  secondly,  it  follows  that  the  words,  "where 
their  worm  dieth  not,"  in  Mark's  account  of  the  description  of  hell- 
fire  as  given  by  Jesus  ^  should  not  have  been  admitted  ;  they  are 
out  of  place. 

TIAMAT. 

Jensen  (/.  c,  p.  489)  observes  with  reference  to  Tiamat:  "Be- 
rossus  calls  this  being  'a  woman,'  she  is  the  mother  of  the  gods,' 
has  a  husband  and  a  lover,  and  nowhere  throughout  Assyrian  or 
Babylonian  literature  is  there  found  even  the  slightest  hint  that 
this  creature  is  regarded  otherwise  than  as  a  woman." 

Nothing  can  be  farther  off  the  mark  than  this  assertion,  which 
contradicts  not  merely  me,  but  also  a  fact  recognised  by  all  Assyri- 
ologists.  Or  is  it  not  true  that  a  human  woman  gives  birth  to 
human  beings,  while  a  lioness  brings  forth  young  lions?  Therefore, 
a  creature  which  gives  birth  to  sinnahhe,  i.  e.,  gigantic  serpents 
{ittalad,  see  Creation-epic,  IIL,  24  and  passitn'),  must  itself  be  a 
great,  powerful  serpent,  a  SpaKwv  /xeyas  or  some  serpent-like  mon- 
ster. As  a  matter  of  fact,  Tiamat  is  represented  in  Babylonian  art 
as  a  great  serpent.  (See,  e.  g. ,  Cheyne's  English  translation  of 
the  Book  of  the  Prophet  Isaiah  in  Haupt's  edition  of  the  Bible,  p. 
206.) 

I  see  by  no  means  in  the  scene  reproduced  in  my  First  Lec- 
ture (Fig.  46,  p.  46)  an  exact  portrayal  of  Marduk's  fight  with  the 
Dragon,  as  described  to  us  in  the  creation-epic  ;  on  the  contrary,  I 
speak  expressly  and  cautiously  of  a  battle  between  "the  power  of 
light  and  the  power  of  darkness"  in  general. 

The  representation  of  this  battle,  especially  of  the  monster 
Tiamat,  naturally  left  a  wide  scope  to  the  imagination  of  the  artist. 
A  dragon  could  be  represented  in  various  ways,  such  as  we  see  in 
Figure  44,  page  44.  The  beast  which  lies  at  the  feet  of  the  god 
Marduk  has  since  been  palpably  proved  by  the  German  excavations 
to  be,  as  explained  by  me,  the  dragon  Tiamat.  The  relief  of  the 
sirrussii  found  on  the  Gate  of  Ishtar  at  Babylon  unmistakably 
agrees  with  the  figure  familiar  to  us  from  our  illustration. 

Oettli,   following    Gunkel  (^Schopfung  u.nd  Chaos,   pp.  29—114), 

1  Mk.  ix.  44,  46,  48. 


160  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

practically  agrees  with  my  conclusion  when  he  says:  "There  are 
enough  references  in  the  prophetical  and  poetical  books  of  the  Old 
Testament  to  make  it  obvious  that  the  old  [Babylonian]  creation- 
myth  survived  in  the  popular  conceptions  of  Israel,  and  that  in  a 
highly-colored  form."  And  again:  "There  are  indeed  enough 
cases  where  the  original  mythical  meaning  of  the  monsters  Tehom, 
Leviathdn,  Tannin,  Rahab,  is  unmistakable."^  Isaiah  proceeds  (li. 
lo):  "Art  thou  not  it  that  dried  up  the  sea,  the  water  of  the  great 
Tehom,  that  made  the  depths  of  the  sea  a  way  for  the  ransomed  to 
pass  over?"  Here  the  prophet  actually  couples  "those  mythical 
reminiscences"  with  the  deliverance  from  Egypt,  as  another  tri- 
umph of  Yahveh  over  the  waters  of  Tehom.  And  when  we  con- 
sider how  in  other  passages  (e.  g.,  Ps.  cvi.  9-1 1,  Ixxviii.  13)  Yah- 
veh's  achievement  of  the  passage  of  the  children  of  Israel  through 
the  Red  Sea  is  described  and  celebrated,  we  cannot  apply  to  any 
but  primaeval  times  the  words  in  Ps.  Ixxiv.  13  sq.:  "Thou  brakest 
the  heads  of  the  dragons  in  the  waters,  thou  didst  dash  to  pieces 
the  heads  of  the  sea-monsters"  (^Leviathcin^.  Leviathdn,  accordmg 
to  Job  iii.  8  also,  is  a  personification  of  the  dark  chaotic  primaeval 
waters,  the  sworn  enemy  of  light. 

Even  Konig  reluctantly  grants  (p.  27)  that  the  Book  of  Job^ 
"alludes,  in  all  probability,  to  the  conquest  of  the  primaeval  ocean  ;  " 
Jensen  accordingly  seems  to  stand  quite  alone  when  he  says  (/.  c, 
p.  490): 

"  Wherever  the  Old  Testament  mentions  a  struggle  of  Yahveh  against  serpents 
and  crocodile-like  creatures,  there  is  no  occasion  to  assume  with  Delitzsch  and 
with  a  goodly  number  of  other  Assyriologists  [add:  also  with  Gunkel  and  most 
Old  Testament  theologians]  a  reference  to  the  Babylonian  myth  of  the  struggle 
with  Tiamat." 

Oettli  is  right  when  he  declares  (p.  17): 

"To  submit  the  researches  of  Natural  Science  to  the  Biblical  version  of  the 
creation  is  a  wholly  erroneous  proceeding,  which  is  the  more  unintelligible  as  the 
details  of  the  second  account  of  Genesis  and  many  other  passages  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment are  quite  incompatible  with  the  first.  Let  us,  therefore,  unreservedly  give  to 
Science  that  which  belongs  to  Science." 

Oettli  proceeds  : 

"  But  let  us  also  give  to  God  that  which  is  God's ;  the  world  is  a  creation  of 
God's  omnipotence,  which  supports  it  as  its  law  of  life,- — this  the  first  page  of  Gen- 
esis tells  us. " 

1  Oettli   cites  Job  ix.  13  and   Isaiah  li.  g,  wliere.  moreover,  "  pierced  "   ini^ht   be   better  than 
dishonored." 

2  "  God  turns  not  his  anger,  the  helpers  of  ritAi?;!' brake  in  pieces  under  him"(ix.  13).  and 
in  his  power  he  smote  the  sea  and  in  his  wisdom  he  dashed  rOhSb  to  pieces  "  (xxvi.  12). 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  161 

In  this  I  can  no  longer  concur.  Our  faith  claims,  and  many 
passages  in  the  Old  Testament  assert,  that  God  is  the  Almighty 
Creator  of  heaven  and  earth,  but  this  truth  is  certainly  not  stated  on 
the  first  page  of  Genesis,  where  we  read:  "In  the  beginning  God 
created  the  heaven  and  the  earth, — and  the  earth  was  waste  and 
desolate,"  etc. ;  for  this  passage  leaves  unanswered  the  question, 
"Whence  did  chaos  originate?"  Besides,  even  among  the  Baby- 
lonians the  creation  of  the  heavens  and  of  the  earth  is  ascribed  to 
the  gods,  and  the  life  of  all  animate  creatures  is  regarded  as  rest- 
ing in  their  hands. 

* 
*  * 

I  will  call  attention  to  a  passage  in  II.  R.  51,  44^;,  where  a 
canal  is  named  after  "the  Serpent-god  who  bursts  (or  destroys) 
the  house  of  life,"  apparently  referring  to  some  as  yet  unknown 
Babylonian  myth.  This,  however,  would  upset  Jensen's  view,  that 
we  may  perhaps  see  in  the  two  figures,  two  gods  dwelling  by  the 
tree  of  life,  and  in  the  serpent,  its  guardian. 

Zimmern^  regards  the  serpent-god  as  ultimately  identical  with 
the  chaos-monster. 

ANGELS. 

Cornill  (/.  c,  p.  1682),  also,  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  "the 
conception  of  angels  is  genuinely  Babylonian."  When  I  spoke  of 
guardian  angels  who  attend  on  men  (Ps.  xci.  ii  et  seq.,  Matt, 
xviii.  10),  I  had  in  mind  such  passages  as  Apia's  well-known  letter 
of  consolation  to  the  queen-mother  (K.  523).  The  Babylonian 
officer  writes:  "Mother  of  the  king,  my  lady,  be  comforted  (?)  ! 
Bel's  and  Nebo's  angel  of  mercy  attends  on  the  king  of  the  lands, 
my  lord."  Further  the  writing  addressed  to  Esarhaddon  (K.  948): 
"May  the  great  gods  send  a  guardian  of  salvation  and  life  to  stand 
by  the  king,  my  lord ; "  and  also  the  words  of  Nabopolassar,  the 
founder  of  the  Chaldaean  kingdom:  "To  lordship  over  land  and 
people  Marduk  called  me.  He  sent  a  Cherub  of  mercy  (a  tutelary 
god)  to  attend  on  me,  and  everything  I  undertook  he  sped"  (see 
Mitteilimgcn  dcr  deutschen  Oric7it-Gesellschaft,  No.  10,  p.  14  et  seq.). 

In  "the  Old  Serpent  which  is  the  Devil  and  Satan"  is  pre- 
served the  ancient  Babylonian  conception  of  Tiamat,  the  primaeval 
eneni)^  of  the  gods,  while  Satan,  who  appears  several  times  in  the 
later  and  latest  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  is  always  the 
enemy  of  man,  not  of  God,''  owes  his  origin  to  Babylonian  demon- 

1  Die  Keilinschriften  und  das  Alte  Testament,  3rd  ed.,  second  half,  p.  504  et  seq. 
2See  Job,  ch.  i.  et  seq.,  i  Chron.  xsi.  i,  Zech.  iii.  i  et  seq. 


162  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

ology  in  which  we   become  acquainted  with   an  ////  Ihnnu  or   *  evil 
god'  and  a.  gallu  or  'devil.' 

BABYLONIAN  SUPERSTITIONS  IN  SWEDEN. 

How  much  Assyria  intrudes  into  our  own  time  can  be  seen 
from  G.  Hellmann's  most  interesting  communion  on  the  Chaldaean 
origin  of  modern  superstitions  about  the  understorms  (in  the  Mr- 
teorologische  Zcitsclirift,  June,  i8g6,  pp.  236-238),  where  it  is  proved 
that  an  ancient  Babylonian  belief  survives  even  at  the  present  day 
in  the  popular  Swedish  book,  Sibyllae  Prophetia,  in  which  a  chapter 
entitled  "Tordons  marketecken "  treats  of  the  prognostics  of  the 
weather  and  fertility  as  indicated  by  the  thunder  in  the  several 
months. 

CANAANITES. 

The  term  used  by  me  in  its  usual  linguistic  sense  (see,  e.  g., 
Kautzsch,  Hebrdische  Grammatik,  27th  ed.,  p.  2),  has  been  replaced 
in  later  editions  by  "North  Semites,"  simply  because  the  name  was 
frequently  misunderstood.  That  the  kings  of  the  first  Babylonian 
dynasty,  Sianu-abi  and  his  successors,  do  not  belong  to  that  Semitic 
stock  of  Babylonian  Semites  who  had  become  fused  with  the  Sume- 
rians,  but  rather  to  later  immigrants,  is  proved  by  the  ancient  Baby- 
lonian scholars,  for  they  deemed  the  names  of  the  two  kings  Hafn- 
murabi  (also  Ammurabi^  and  Ammisadtiga  (or  Airimizaduga)  to  be 
foreign  and  stand  in  need  of  explanation,  rendering  the  former  by 
Kimta-rapasium,  "wide- spread  family"  (cf.  C^''3n"i,  Rehoboam),  and 
the  latter  hy  Kimtum-kcttuiti,  "upright  family"  (VR.  44,  21,  22,  a, 
b^.  The  replacement  of  the  u  (in  C^,  people,  family)  by  h  in  the 
name  Ha7n7nurabi  shows  that  these  Semites,  unlike  the  older  stock 
that  had  been  settled  for  centuries  in  Babylonia,  still  pronounced 
the  iJ  as  an  37.  Further,  their  pronunciation  of  sh  as  an  s,^  no  less 
than  the  preformative  of  the  third  person  of  the  perfect  tense  with  ia 
(not  /^),  proves  that  these  Semitic  tribes  were  quite  distinct,  which 
fact,  first  stated  by  Hommel  and  Winckler,  is  and  remains  true,  in 
spite  of  Jensen's  opposition  (/.  c,  p.  491).  Linguistic  and  his- 
torical considerations  make  it  more  than  probable  than  these  im- 
migrant Semites  belonged  to  the  Northern  Semites  and  are  most 
closely  affiliated  with  the  linguistically  so-called  "Canaanites"  (i. 
e.,  the  Phoenicians,  Moabites,  Hebrews,  etc.).     The  knowledge  of 

ISamsu  in  Sa-am-su-iliina   fcf.   also   Samu-ahi)   as  contrasted  with   the   older   Babylonian 
Shamshu. 

2  In  the  personal  names  of  that  age  Vatnlik-ilu,  Varbi-ilu,  Vak-hani-ilu,  etc 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  163 

this  we  owe  to  the  acumen  of  Hugo  Winckler  (see  his  Geschichte 
Israels),  who  thereby  made  a  particularly  important  addition  to  his 
many  other  merits.  The  na  of  ihina  (in  Satnsu  ibina),  which  is 
alleged  to  mean  "our  God,"  is  not  sufficient  to  prove  tribal  rela- 
tionship with  Arabia,  since,  in  view  of  the  names  Atnmi-zadTiga, 
Ammi-ditana,  it  is  at  least  equally  probable  that  iluna  represents  an 
adjective.  1  \{.o^q,vq.x,  zadiig,  "righteous,"  may  indicate  a  "Cana- 
anite"  dialect,  both  lexically^  and  phonetically;^  and  the  same  may 
be  said,  too,  of  such  personal  names  as  Ya-su-tib-ilu  belonging  to 
the  same  age.*  Will  Jensen  be  able  ever  to  produce  an  unobjec- 
tionable explanation  from  the  Babylonian  language  of  such  names 
as  Yasiib-ilu} 

1  Note  the  personal  n^Tae  T-lu-na  xaMeissaex's  Beitriige  zum  altbabylontschen  Privatrecht ^ 
No.  4 ;  cf.  ■jfns  ? 

"^ZadUg  must  be  the  Hebrew  pil^il  for  ih^  verbal  stem,  compare  saduk,  "he  is  righteous," 
in  the  Amarna  tablets, 

3The  vowel  S  is  obscured  to  o,  ft ;  e.  g.,  in  anitki,  signifying  the  pronoun  ''  I  "  in  the  Amarna 
tablets,  etc. 

4Cf.  Phoen.  Ba-a-al-ia-sft-bu,  VR,  2,  St-. 


REPLY  TO  CRITICS  OF  THE  SECOND  LEC- 
TURE. 

That  a  discussion  of  these  momentous  theological  or  religio- 
historical  questions,  if  they  are  but  treated  in  the  right  spirit, 
could  be  considered  an  injury  or  even  an  insult  to  Judaism,  least  of 
all  to  the  modern  Jewish  faith,  is  in  my  opinion  absolutely  ex- 
cluded. Dispassionate,  strictly  objective  inquiry  into  the  origin 
of  the  Sabbath,  of  the  position  of  woman  in  Israel  as  well  as  in 
Babylonia,  and  of  kindred  questions,  can  only  sharpen  our  judg- 
ment and  promote  the  truth.  In  the  same  way  we  shall  gradually 
witness  in  Jewish  circles  a  unanimity  regarding  the  worth  of  Old 
Testament  monotheism,  which  at  present  is  not  yet  attained.  In 
contradiction  to  the  universalism  of  the  belief  in  God  which  several 
Jewish  writers  of  open  letters  assume  to  prevail  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment (and  they  imagine  they  prove  their  case  by  quotations  of  Scrip- 
tural passages),  the  opinion  of  other  Israelites,  authorities  both  for 
their  general  knowledge  and  Biblical  scholarship,  has  been  voiced, 
the  purport  of  which  appears  in  the  following  private  letter  of  Jan- 
uary 14,  1903: 

"Irrefutable  is  your  assertion  that  Jewish  monotheism  is  egotistic,  particular- 
stic,  and  exclusive  ;  equally  irrefutable,  however,  in  my  opinion,  is  the  fact  that 
this  rigorously  particularistic  monotheism  alone  could  preserve  Judaism  for  thou- 
sands of  years  in  the  midst  of  all  kinds  of  persecution  and  hostility.  From  the 
Jewish  standpoint,  the  national  theism  is  brilliantly  justified;  to  give  it  up  means 
to  give  up  Judaism ;  and  though  much  can  be  said  in  favor  of  such  a  surrender, 
there  are  many  points  that  militate  against  it." 

The  divine  character  of  the  Torah,  of  course,  will  have  to  be 
excluded  from  scientific  discussion,  at  least  so  long  as  a  complete 
neglect  of  the  results  of  Pentateuch-criticism  on  the  Jewish  side 
can  be  regarded  as  "exact  science,"  and  so  long  as  reviews  of 
Bahcl  and  Bible  based  on  such  a  neglect  are  looked  upon  as  "scien- 
tific criticism." 


BABEIy  AND  BIBLE.  165 

A  deep  pain  seizes  me,  who  myself  am  sprung  from  a  strictly 
orthodox  Lutheran  house,  when  I  consider  the  abyss  of  obscurant- 
ism, confusion,  halfheartedness,  contradiction,  let  alone  worse  fea- 
tures, of  the  evangelical  orthodoxy  displayed  towards  the  questions 
raised  by  Babel  and  Bible.  From  all  quarters  and  corners  the  cry  is 
raised  that  I  have  said  "nothing  essentially  new":  but,  if  that  be 
so,  why  this  extraordinary  excitement? 

On  the  one  hand,  a  deep  lamentation  and  bitter  accusation  of 
Assyriology  comes  from  Aix-la-Chapelle,  because  the  Old  Testa- 
ment traditions,  e.  g. ,  Nebuchadnezzar's  madness,  are  arbitrarily 
assumed  to  be  borrowed  from  Babylonian  myths;  on  the  other 
hand,  an  "orthodox  pastor"  exclaims  in  the  columns  of  a  journal 
of  central  Germany  that  I  am  fighting  windmills,  because  the  story 
of  Balaam's  ass,  of  the  sun  standing  still,  of  the  fall  of  the  walls  of 
Jericho,  of  the  fish  which  swallows  Jonah,  of  Nebuchadnezzar's 
madness,  are  not  contained  in  the  historical  books  of  the  Bible. 
"They  are  accounts,"  he  says,  "whose  historical  trustworthiness 
may  be  contested  even  according  to  orthodox  views." 

Accordingly  even  evangelical  orthodoxy  set  aside  "revela- 
tions" which  are  no  longer  deemed  in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  the 
age :  will  not  the  orthodoxy  once  for  all  condescend  to  an  open 
c:onfession,  and  explain  unequivocally  which  books  and  narratives 
of  "Holly  Scripture"  they  think  proper  to  surrender? 

Professor  Ernst  Sellin  of  Vienna,  one  of  the  first  and  most 
meritorious  among  the  positive  Old  Testament  investigators,  gladly 
acknowledges  in  his  glosses  on  Babel  and  Bible  {^Neue  Freie  Presse, 
January  25,  1903)  "the  innumerable  helps,  elucidations,  and  cor- 
rections which  in  grammatical  and  lexicographical  questions  as 
well  as  in  the  field  of  the  history  of  civilisation  and  general  history 
Old  Testament  investigation  owes  to  the  decipherment  of  the  Baby- 
lonian inscriptions.  Yet,  on  the  other,  he  is  of  opinion  that  if  I 
dispose  of  the  fact  of  a  divine  revelation  in  the  Bible  on  account 
of  the  Songs  of  Songs  and  the  amalgamation  of  tradition  out  of 
heterogeneous  sources,  I  appear  on  the  scene  a  hundred  years  too 
late.  This  is,  to  say  the  least,  a  gross  exaggeration.  When  my 
dear  father,  Franz  Delitzsch,  towards  the  end  of  his  life,  found 
himself  compelled  by  the  weight  of  the  facts  of  the  Old  Testament 
text  criticism  to  make  some,  and  indeed  the  smallest  possible,  con- 
cessions for  the  book  of  Genesis,  he  was  persecuted,  even  on  his 
deathbed  (i8go),  by  the  denunciation  of  whole  synods.  And  the 
great  commotion  excited  by  my  Second  Lecture  serves  to  show 


166  BABEL  AND  BIBLE. 

convincingly  enough  that  the  circles  which  govern  Church  and 
school  cherish  a  different  conviction  from  that  of  my  highly- 
esteemed  critic. 

The  several  clergymen  who  have  not  wasted  their  time  at  the 
university  adhere  to  freer  views,  but  Church  and  School — especially 
the  public  schools — have  remained  unaffected,  and  this  inconsist- 
ency is  no  longer  endurable,  as  stated  in  my  First  Lecture  and  also 
freely  granted  by  Harnack. 

And  this  inconsistency  produces  an  increasingly  widening  gulf. 
When,  e.  g.,  a  theologian  of  no  less  authority  writes  (26th  January, 
4903):  "You  criticise  a  conception  of  Revelation  that  sensible 
Protestants  no  longer  share ;  it  is  that  of  the  antiquated  Lutheran 
Dogmatists.  .  .  .  All  divine  revelation  is,  of  course,  affected  by  the 
human  medium,  and  must  therefore  have  historically  developed;  " 
he  describes  exactly  the  standpoint  that  I  myself  advocate,  only  I 
regard  the  conceptions  of  ' 'divine  revelation  "  as  held  by  the  Church 
and  as  a  historical,  i.  e.,  human,  development  to  be  irreconcilable 
contradictions.  Either  we  take  the  one  or  the  other.  Tcrtium  non 
datur. 

I  hold  the  view  that  in  the  Old  Testament  we  have  to  deal 
with  a  development  effected  or  permitted  by  God  like  any  other 
product  of  this  world,  but,  for  the  rest,  of  a  purely  human  and  his- 
torical character,  in  which  God  has  not  intervened  through  a  "spe- 
cial, supernatural  revelation." 

The  Old  Testament  monotheism  plainly  shows  itself  to  be 
such  a  process  marked  by  an  advance  from  the  imperfect  to  the 
perfect,  from  the  false  to  the  true,  here  and  there  indeed  by  occa- 
sional retrogression.  The  modification  of  the  original  conception 
of  revelation,  deeply  rooted  in  ancient  Orientalism,  by  a  surrender 
of  the  verbal  inspiration,  made  by  both,  evangelical  and  Catholic 
theology,  and  even  by  the  Church,  irretrievably  divests  the  Old 
Testament  of  its  character  as  the  "Word  of  God,"  ushering  in,  as 
it  seems  to  me,  the  end  of  the  theological  and  the  beginning  of  the 
religio-historical  treatment  of  the  Old  Testament. 

The  present  resurrection  of  the  Babylonio-Assyrian  literature 
has  certainly  not  been  accomplished  without  God's  will.  It  has 
suddenly  taken  its  place  by  the  side  of  the  ancient  Hebrew  litera- 
ture, the  only  one  of  Hither-Asia  heretofore  known  to  us,  and  com- 
pels to  revise  our  conception  of  revelation  bound  up  with  the  Old 
Testament.  Would  that  we  might  more  and  more  become  con- 
vinced that  only  b}'  a  dispassionate  reinvestigation  of  the  docu- 


BABEL  AND  BIBLE.  1^' 

ments  we  can  reach  our  aim,  and  that  in  th.s  controversy,  neitl,er 
:::  oTwhen  its  solution  has  been  approached,  our  p.ety  and  the 
communion  of  our  hearts  with  God  can  suffer  the  least. 

CONCLUSION, 

I  shall  endeavor  to  reply  only  to  scientific  criticisms,  but  I  fear 
that    i     I  adhere  to  this  mLim,  I  shall  have  little  opportunity,  ■ 
m  t';;"c:ntinue  as  heretofore,  to  concern  -V-"  ^'^'^^Evange  cal 
Orthodoxy.     Their  method  of  warfare,  especially  that  °f  'he  bvan 
get  1  Orthodox  Press,   fills  me  with  profound   d-gus.^    In   the 
%.ange,iscke  Kirc,.en.ciU,n,,   founded  by  the  venerable  Hengs.  n 
burg.  Pastor  P.  Wolff,  of  Friedensdorl,  Seelow,  one  of  its  regular 
contributors,  writes  (No.  4,  January  25,  .903)  as  follows: 


children." 


And  again: 

..Dem.sch  intend,  .0  deliver  another  lecture  o„  Baby lo;-  and  .he  New  Te^ta- 
„en.;perhapshe,.,.al30,rea..hes„hi»..Bahe,^^^^^^  ^^ 

rrs.T:rr-:i.tXrpro.ed.hate,en.e^^^^^^^^^ 
rived  from  Babylon.  On  a  monolith  preserved  ■"  '^;'^"'f^.'J;;=3„„j  ,L  neck, 
Ramnran  IV.,  is  represented  wearing  upon  ^'^"^'^^'^l ^J^^^l  „,,,  („,  „,ders 
a  cross,  which  appears  '°  ^";-| f,  ;^^%>,:^„t;°:  ^    ^r  comp-hension  of  the 
What  a  newbght  ,s  shed  ^^ 'h'    '^^'  ^^j^J^/^  l^^,  „j  ,„,  Red  Eagle  of  the 
real  meanmg  of  orders      Even  ,D  Baby'o  are  unquestionably  derived 

;:rBr,.Tf  :virt"th:r:ur  rd:rr  -"lisation  is  steeped  .hr„ugh  and 
through  with  Babylonian  ideas 

What  a  slough  of  mental  and  moral  depravity  in  a  German 
clergT-n  these  lords  bespeak  !     And   samples  like  th.s  could  be 

"'"Tcon't:attt'this,  I,  as  an  Evangelical  Chrisfan    greet  with 
gratitude  Rev.  Dr.  Friedrich  Jeremias  of  Dresden,  whose  dtscus- 
sion  of  -y  lecture   (^Drcsiner  Joun.al,  February  4,  -gos)..  '-"K 
according  to  his  standpoint  he   naturally  rejects   my  postt.on.  ts 
trulv  noble  both  in  diction  and  substance.  ,       ^   ,.  ,    ,, 

A  third  lecture  on  "Babel  and  Bible"  will  be  dehvered  as 
as  soon  ale  views  on  these  two  lectures  shall  have  become  clear 
and  settled. 


THE   OPEN    COURT    PUBLISHING    CO.,    CHICAGO. 


History  of  Religion,  and  Oriental  Works 


Babel  and  Bible 

A  lecture  Delivered  before  the  German  Emperor.  By   Friedrich   Delitzsch,  Professor  of 

Assyriology  in  the  University  of  Berlin.  From  the  German  by  T.  J.  McCormack.  A  brilli- 
ant exposition  by  a  master  of  the  light  thrown  on  the  Bible  by  Assyriological  research.  Pro- 
fusely illustrated  Pp.  66.      Boards,  50  cents  net.      2nd  edition. 

History  of  the  People  of  Israel 

From  the  Earliest  Times  to  the  Destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans.  By  Prof. 
C.  H.  CoRNiLL,  of  the  University  of  Breslau,  Germany.  Translated  by  Prof.  W.  H. 
Carruth.  Pages,  325 — vi.  Cloth,  $1.50  (7s.  6d.).  A  fascinating  portrayal  of  Jewish 
history  by  one  of  the  foremost  of  Old  Testament  scholars.  An  impartial  record.  Com' 
mended  by  both  orthodox  and  unorthodox.    2nd  ed. 

"Many  attempts  have  been  made  since  Old  Testament  criticism  settled  down  into  a  science,  to  write  the  history  of  Israel 
popularly.  And  some  of  these  attempts  are  highly  meritorious,  especially  Kittel's  and  Kent's.  But  Cornill  has  been 
most  successful.  His  book  is  smallest  and  it  is  easiest  to  read.  He  has  the  master  faculty  of  seizing  the  essential  and 
passing  by  the  accidental.  His  style  (especially  as  freely  translated  into  English  by  Professor  Carruth  of  Kansas)  is  pleas- 
ing and  restful.  Nor  is  he  excessively  radical.  If  Isaac  and  Ishmael  are  races,  Abraham  is  an  individual  still.  And 
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Geschichte  des  Volkes  Israel 

\'on  Carl  Heixrich  Cornill.      330  Seiten.      Gebunden,  $2.00  (Mark  8). 

rhis  book  is  the  German  original  of  the  preceding  *'History  of  the  People  of  Israel. **  Apart  from  its  value  to  German 
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The  Prophets  of  Israel 

By  Prof.  Carl  Heinrich  Cornill.  Frontispiece,  Michael  Angelo's  Moses.  Cloth,  with 
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$i.oo  net   (5s.). 

"Dr.  Cornill's  fascination  and  charm  of  style  loses  nothing  in  this  excellent  translation." — The  Week,  Toronto. 

"Admirably  simple  and  lucid; intensely  interesting.     The  reader  understands  the  prophets  and  appreciates  their 

lasting  contribution  to  Israel's  religion  and  to  humanity,  as  doubtless  he  never  did  before." — Rabbi  Joseph  Stolz  in  The 
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The  Rise  of  the  People  of  Israel 

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The  Legends  of  Genesis 

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<1> 


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The  Serpent  and  the  Tree  of 

(Babylonian  Cylinder). 

Prom  Carus'  History  op  the 


Life 
Devil. 


The  History  of  the  Devil 

And  the  Idea  of  Evil  from  the  Earliest  Times 
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information  upon  a  subject  fascinating  to  both  students  and  casual 
readers." — Chicago  Israelite. 

Hymns  of  the  Faith  (or  Dhammapada) 

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Solomon  and  Solomonic  Literature 

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Portrays  the  entire  evolution  of  the  Solomonic  legend  in  the  history  of  Judaism,  Christianity,  Hinduism,  Buddhism,  and 
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Luther's  Motto. 

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CoNTENTsi  The  Origin  of  Buddhismj  The  Philosophy  of  Buddhism;  The  Psychological  Problem;  The  Basic  Concepti 
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Lao-Tze's  Tao  Teh  King 

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'   ~  —  (Jhir 

Tao-Teh-King 


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Acvaghosha's  Discourse  on  the  Awakening 
of  Faith  in  the  Mahay  an  a 

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Accepted   as   authoritative  by  numerous  Buddhistic  sects,  and  translated  into 

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